Two Sides of a Coin
by SerenBex
Summary: When Hollie Evans turns up at Waterloo Road, she is hoping to put the past behind her. Hundreds of miles away from home, with an absentee mother, a father she's never met, a grandmother in a care home and her grandfather recently deceased, this seems relatively easy to do. But would things ever be that simple at Waterloo Road? This follows Hollie's year at Waterloo Road.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Hello! This is my first Waterloo Road fic. I've loved the show since series 1, but I've never been inspired to write a fic based on it until now – so I hope it's not terrible! It took me ages to work out which year certain characters would be in because they seem to just make it up sometimes! In series 7 they said Scout was born in 1994, meaning she will turn 18 this year and making her a year 13! But then Imogen's Mum said she's in year 12, although she's in the same classes as Scout. I am very confused! Basically, I've decided that it's easier to put them in year 12, because it works better for me! ;)**_

_**Also, I should mention that this fic is set during series 8, although the time scale might be a little different in some parts, so take it with a pinch of salt!**_

_**Anyway, reviews are massively appreciated, so let me know if you like it – constructive criticism is always welcome too!**_

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_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Waterloo Road characters or storylines, but I do own Hollie Evans :)**_

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She dressed in her new uniform; tight white shirt and short black skirt. She tied the burgundy and gold tie in a loose knot. She pulled on her burgundy cardigan with its large golden school badge. Her eyes swept over her reflection and she leant forwards, touching up her dark eye makeup and scraping her hair back messily. Finally satisfied, smiling slightly as she thought about the fact that she would never have got away with leaving the house looking like this before, she turned away and picked up the large backpack on the bed. Slinging it over her shoulder and picking up the holdall beside it, she glanced around the room to make sure she had everything. Then she left the room, hearing the door click loudly behind her.

"You're checking out, Miss Evans?" The receptionist behind her desk asked in a thick Glaswegian accent. The girl nodded in response, putting her key card on the surface and dropping several notes to cover her bill beside it. The receptionist could hardly have been much older than she was. "On behalf of the Premier Inn Greenock I hope you had a pleasant stay and we hope to see you back soon."

"I doubt it." The girl muttered under her breath, turning and stalking out of the reception.

She walked through the automatic doors into the bright, mid-September morning and hesitated for a moment on the curb, glancing both ways along the road. The directions to the school had been handed to her along with her train tickets and hotel reservation the day before, but she had somehow mislaid them. It happened more often than not. Her ability to loose important things was inherent; phone, keys, documents, family.

After considering her options, she turned left and began to walk. She was going to be late, that was obvious, but there was no point standing around like a damsel in distress. She was never going to find Waterloo Road School if she just waited for someone to come and help her.

It was almost eleven o'clock by the time she eventually found the school. She stood at the gates, staring at the building with a mixture of apprehension and apathy. It was just another school building, nothing special or out of the ordinary. And yet she'd been sent all the way to Scotland for this.

With a deep sigh, she hoisted the backpack more securely onto her back and adjusted her grip on the holdall. Then she walked purposefully through the gates and towards the reception. Opening the door, she followed the signs to the headmaster's office and knocked firmly.

A pretty young woman opened it almost instantly, looking the teenager up and down with a look bordering on distain. "Can I help you?"

"Hollie Evans, I'm here to see Mr Barnes… Bayne? The headmaster, anyway." The teenager said with a shrug, not seeming remotely bothered that she couldn't remember the name of the man she was there to see.

"Mr Byrne." The woman corrected, moving through the small office and knocking on a second door, motioning for Hollie to follow her. After a couple of moments, that door opened as well. "Hollie Evans here to see you."

"Ah…" The man stepped forwards, glancing at his watch. "We were expecting you for morning registration."

"Yeah, sorry, I got a bit lost on the way from the hotel." Hollie explained with a shrug, moving past him into the office and sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"Right, well, you've missed the first few weeks of the term, so you'll have to catch up–"

"I did go to school before I came to Scotland, you know." The teenager said, raising an eyebrow. "I have got GCSEs."

The headmaster looked at her for a moment. "Quite. What I meant to say, was that you will have to catch up with where your classmates are, in case you're at a different point in your studies. I should also remind you that here at Waterloo Road we don't accept attitude like that as a valid way of addressing anyone; pupils or staff."

"Sorry, sir. I just… I only got here last night and I'm a bit tired."

Obviously satisfied with her apology, he nodded. "Right, well, here's your timetable. Break time finishes at twenty past eleven, so you may as well head to your next class. I see you've only missed a double free period this morning. You can leave your bags outside with Janeece and pick them up at the end of the day when someone will show you to the School House."

"Right." The teenager nodded as well. She didn't look overly convinced by the safety of leaving her possessions with the young woman outside the office, but neither did she see the point in carting them round with her all day.

The timetable indicated that after break she had English, so Hollie headed in the vague direction of the English block, as marked out by signposts on the walls. She wasn't even sure why she had taken English. There was no denying that she was good at it; it was always her highest graded subject, probably because she loved books. But she associated it with things she did her best to forget. Nevertheless, she continued to study it, almost as link to those things she tried to ignore.

Joining the queue waiting outside the English classroom, Hollie kept her head down, staring at her shoes. She wasn't exactly shy; she had just never been the sort of person who wanted to draw attention to herself. It was easier to blend into the background, especially when you were the new girl. After a couple of moments, someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to see who was trying to attract her attention.

"Hi…"

"Hi, you must be new. I'm Imogen." A tall, incredibly pale girl with longish dark hair said, her accent giving away the fact she was a local.

"Yeah, I'm Hollie. I just moved here from London. And by just, I mean last night." She said with a small smile.

"You come with your family?" Imogen asked interestedly.

Hollie shook her head. "I ain't got no family." At the expression on the other girl's face, she smiled and elaborated slightly; just enough to stop her asking questions. "I lived with my grandparents, but then my Granddad died and Nan had to go into a care home. One of our neighbours knew someone who had something to do with this place and here I am."

"What about your parents?" The boy standing beside Imogen asked.

Noticing Hollie's questioning glance, the Scottish girl smiled. "This is Connor."

"Hi…" She smiled, slightly warily. "I dunno who my dad is and my mum… I only see her two or three times a year. I don't think she's exactly the maternal type. Last time I saw her was at Granddad's funeral."

Connor opened his mouth to ask another question, presumably one the new girl wouldn't want to answer, but the teacher appeared at that moment and he turned away abruptly. She opened the classroom door and the students filed in after her. Hollie hesitated as Connor took the seat beside Imogen and looked for a seat. The only one left was right at the front of the class and she reluctantly took it, pulling out a notebook, pen and the copy of _North and South_ by Elizabeth Gaskell that she'd been told to bring.

"Hello, you must be Hollie." The teacher said kindly, perching on the desk and smiling. "I'm Mrs Mulgrew. Anything you need to know, don't hesitate to ask."

Hollie smiled as the teacher stood up and moved to address the whole class. She started by saying she hoped everyone had enjoyed their weekends, before launching into the lesson. As time passed, the teenager found that she had forgotten she was the newcomer, the girl with no friends, fully submerging herself in the lesson and the novel they were studying.

Before she knew it, the bell rang and Hollie gathered up her things. She glanced at her timetable and saw that she had History next. Helplessly, she went to ask Imogen where the History classroom was. Luckily, Connor had the same lesson and offered to take her. They made small talk on the way there and as they waited for the lesson to begin.

Imogen took Hollie firmly under her wing, introducing her to people at lunchtime. When the end of school bell rang, Imogen accompanied her new friend to the headmaster's office where she collected her things.

"The House Mistress, Ms Croft, will be here to pick you up any minute." Mr Byrne informed her with a smile, before disappearing back into his office.

"I better get going." Imogen said apologetically. "I hope you settle in alright. See you tomorrow."

Hollie smiled and nodded, watching as she walked away. There was nothing to do but sit on the chairs that ran along the wall and wait for someone to come and get her.

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_**A/N: I've changed the book they're studying from 'The Great Gatsby', because I've never read that. Also, 'North and South' (by Elizabeth Gaskell) fits better with what's coming up in the fic :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

It was fifteen minutes before Ms Croft appeared to show her to the School House. She was a friendly, middle-aged woman who chattered to Hollie as they walked, asking her all about herself and her old school. The teenager answered as best she could, not wanting to talk much about her family. When she mentioned that her Grandfather had recently died, Ms Croft turned to her with sympathy-filled eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, love." She gushed, putting an arm around the teenager. "That must have been hard, especially being sent up here where you don't know anyone."

Hollie shrugged. "He was 77 and it was better than him suffering anymore. Nan's better off in the care home, too. They can look after her better than I could. It's actually a bit of a relief."

"Didn't your parents help at all?" Ms Croft asked nosily.

The teenager tensed. "All I've ever got from my dad was my surname." She muttered. "And mum… she didn't get on with my grandparents. Besides, she wasn't really the family-orientated type."

"Wasn't?"

"Isn't…" Hollie clarified hastily.

"Where is she now? Might she come and visit?"

Shrugging, the girl looked at the ground, wishing the conversation was over. "I doubt it. She came to Granddad's funeral, but Nan wouldn't even speak to her. I don't think she knows I'm here."

Obviously sensing that Hollie didn't want to discuss her family any further, Ms Croft changed the subject, chattering about the other students who she would be living with at the School House. Hollie recognised some of the names of teenagers that Imogen had introduced her to earlier, but there were others that were new to her.

"Here we are!" Ms Croft announced suddenly, coming to a halt. "Home sweet home."

Hollie followed her up the driveway and through the front door. Several pairs of eyes watched her as she climbed the staircase after the House Mistress who was leading her to the room that had been set aside for her. It was a large, airy room on the second floor at the back of the house.

The woman smiled, staying with one hand on the door knob as the teenager dropped her things onto the bed. "Here we are, pet. I'll leave you to settle in and make yourself at home. Dinner's at six, alright?"

Once she was alone in her new bedroom, the sixteen-year-old looked around and sighed. At her grandparents' house she had had a tiny bedroom, just big enough for a bed, a wardrobe and a chair. It had been enough for her, however, because she didn't have much to fill it. That was why she only had the two bags with her now; it was everything she owned. It was a depressing thought that almost eighteen years could be summed up by the contents of an oversized rucksack, a holdall and a school bag.

For Hollie's fifteenth birthday, her mum had bought her a laptop. She hadn't used it much at home... at her grandparents' house... because they refused to get the Internet. For her last birthday, her mum had bought her an iPod. At Christmas she'd bought her an iPhone. Hollie's Nan had muttered about the fact that she was making up for being an absentee mother by throwing money at the teenager and promptly confiscated each present until her granddaughter gently convinced her to let her have them back.

Now, she pulled the laptop out of her rucksack and set it up on the desk against the wall, plugging in the charger and switching it on. As she waited for it to boot up, Hollie unpacked the rest of her things, tidying them neatly away into their proper places. When it was done, she neatly folded the rucksack and holdall and stored them on top of the wardrobe. Looking around, the teenager realised that the room still looked uninhibited.

As she was considering how to remedy this, there was a soft knock on the door and a face appeared in the gap, smiling. "Hi. I'm Scout."

"Yeah..." Hollie nodded, returning the smile weakly. "I remember. Come in."

She watched nervously as the blonde girl entered her new bedroom and settled comfortably on the bed, looking around.

"You ain't got much stuff, have you?" She pointed out, scrunching up her nose as she took in the sparseness of the room. "Oh! Cool laptop! Can I have a go?"

"Help yourself." Hollie agreed with a shrug.

"And you've got a new iPod and an iPhone!" Scout exclaimed excitedly, gazing at Hollie open-mouthed. "Jammy or what?"

"Guilt gifts from my mum." Hollie told her with a shrug, absentmindedly repeating the words she'd often heard her Grandmother say.

"My mum never gave me decent stuff like this and I bet she had way more to be guilty about than yours."

Hollie shrugged, not wanting to get into a bad mother competition. Her opinion of her mother changed with her moods and, at the moment, the teenager had no bad feelings towards the woman. In fact, she didn't feel anything for her at all.

"Who's that?" Scout asked, pointing to the photo that was set as the laptop's desktop background.

"My best mate, Emma." Hollie said quietly. "She died… car accident."

"My mate Denzil died too... he was hit by a lorry. It was the same accident that put Tariq in the chair."

Neither girl seemed to know where to take the conversation from there, so they sat in silence for a couple of moments. Then Scout turned away from the laptop to look questioningly at the other girl.

"You on Facebook?" She asked. Hollie shook her head. "Twitter?"

"No. I never had Internet at my grandparents' house so there was no point 'cos I always had loads of stuff to do." She explained.

Scout shook her head and turned back to the laptop. "You should get it now; I'll help you set it up if you like?"

Slightly bemused, Hollie nodded and watched as Scout set up her social networking account. She listened carefully as the blonde girl explained the basics to her and watched as she went through adding people to her friends list.

"You'll have to search and add your mates from your old school." Scout told her with a shrug. "But I've added most people from school that you've already met."

"Thanks." Hollie nodded.

She continued to watch her new friend messing around with her profile as she thought about her day. Everyone had been so nice to her. Hollie had expected to be an outcast, ignored and made fun of for being the new girl for at least a week. But Waterloo Road was so friendly and she'd been accepted at once. She was also starting to feel a sense of freedom she'd never had before. There was no dinner to think about cooking, no pills to get ready for her grandparents and no massive 'to-do' list to worry about while she tried to do her homework.

"I've changed your status." Scout informed her with a broad grin, cutting through her day-dream. "What d'you think?"

'_Chilling in my new bedroom with my new best mate, the fabulous __**Scout Allen**_'

Hollie laughed. "Perfect!"


	3. Chapter 3

As Hollie's first week turned into her second, then her third and then her fourth, she became more and more relaxed and at home in the School House and at Waterloo Road as a whole. The teachers here were much friendlier and far more interested in their pupils than the teachers at her old school had been. At Canley High, all they'd been interested in was making sure they kept their spot near the top of the league tables. The behaviour there may have been better and there may have been far fewer incidents for the staff to deal with, but the atmosphere at Waterloo Road was in a different league.

She was doing well in all four of her subjects, particularly English, and had become close to both Imogen and Scout. Hollie's life before Waterloo Road had almost faded into the realms of memory; it was no more than a dream. Mr Byrne had held her up as one of Waterloo Road's success stories, although she hadn't exactly classed herself as a failure before she'd arrived at the school.

A week had passed since Tariq had tried to kill himself and Phoenix and the others had squared up to the Havelock High lot. Hollie had missed out on that particular excitement, having left early to spend her Friday afternoon double free alone in her room with just a book for company. The first she'd heard of either event was when Scout burst into her room later that day to give her the news, dropping onto her bed as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Hollie loved the way she didn't stand on ceremony; most of the time the blonde teenager didn't even wait for a response to her knock on the door before throwing it open. She and Scout had become very close and Hollie was relieved. Since her best friend had died, she'd distanced herself from most of her school friends, as though she was worried she'd lose them too. Now, though, she was determined to make a fresh start away from her past. Hollie Evans could be anything and anyone she wanted to be.

The next Friday morning, Hollie filed into the school hall with Imogen, Scout and Connor. Taking their seats, they chatted quietly while they waited for the headmaster to arrive and start the assembly. A hush fell as he walked onto the stage. Hollie didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, having to be nudged to stand up at the end. As they left, Imogen seemed to be sending her sympathetic looks.

Wondering what she'd missed, Hollie shrugged. "What?"

"Parents' Evening?" Imogen said, raising an eyebrow. "Were you not listening?"

Hollie shook her head. "No. What about it?"

"It's the Wednesday after next; October 17th."

"So?"

Imogen glanced surreptitiously at Connor. Hollie, however, caught the look and shrugged again. "Are you gonna try and invite your mum?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Well…" Imogen looked as though she wished she hadn't started the conversation. They came to a halt beside the lockers. "I dunno… I just thought, maybe…"

Hollie sighed and opened her locker, rummaging inside. "She has never been to a single one of my parents' evenings. Why would she start now?"

"Even my mum used to turn up to parents' evenings." Scout said with a grimace. "I wish she hadn't bothered."

"It doesn't matter." Hollie assured them. "It just meant that there was no one for them to tell when I'd done something wrong."

"You? Do something wrong?" Connor teased. "Yeah, right!"

"I'm not a total goody-goody, you know!" The girl complained, trying and failing to hide a smirk.

"Oh, really?" He pressed, folding his arms and leaning against the locker beside her. "Have you ever been in detention?"

"I actually almost got suspended once." Hollie told them.

Her friends stared, unable to believe what they'd just heard. "What for?"

"I skived school to go on an anti-war demonstration." She admitted with a shrug. "I was going through a rebel hippy phase…"

Imogen closed her locker and shook her head. "I would never have guessed it. You're so… quiet."

"It's the quiet ones you've got to watch out for, isn't it?" Connor reminded them as the group turned and started walking towards the classroom where their English lesson with his mother was held. "I'd never have you down as a protester, though."

Hollie laughed. "I haven't been on a march for a while. Those days are in the past, I think."

"Were they the same days as you got your tattoo?" Scout asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You what?" Her friend replied, looking taken aback.

"Your tattoo… I've seen it!"

"You have a tattoo?" Imogen demanded. "How has it taken more than a month for us to find this out?"

"I wanna know how Scout knows." Hollie said quickly.

"In PE yesterday your top rode up and I saw it." She shrugged. Seeing the expressions on Phoenix and Connor's faces, she rolled her eyes. "It's on her hip."

Pre-empting their next question, the teenager sighed and paused with her hand on the classroom door. Glancing back at them as she opened it, she arched an eyebrow. "It's a star, by the way."

"How did you get it?" Scout demanded, not dropping the subject as they took their seats. "You're still not old enough."

"A mate's brother did it for me as a birthday present."

"Birthday? Which birthday?"

Hollie pulled a face. "What is this, the Spanish Inquisition? If you must know, it was my fifteenth birthday."

"Can I see it?" Phoenix asked interestedly.

"No!" She replied, laughing softly. "Not now. I'm not just going to whip it out in the middle of English."

"Oh, please?"

Exhaling sharply, Hollie stood up and pulled up the hem of her shirt, dragging the waistband of her skirt down a little to expose her hip. A star, about the same size as a fifty pence piece, was revealed on the skin of her hip. Each of her friends peered at it closely, examining the tattoo that they had never expected to exist.

"Hollie Evans!" A voice exclaimed from the front of the classroom. "As lovely, and inappropriate, as that tattoo is, please put it away so we can begin the lesson."

Blushing at Mrs Mulgrew's words, Hollie sat down, burying her head in her novel. She glanced sideways at Connor and winced. He shook his head and shot her a grin, amused by her acute embarrassment.

Barely looking up in the next forty minutes, let alone putting her hand up to answer any questions, Hollie was relieved when the bell rang. She put her things back into her bag slowly, telling her friends she needed to ask something about their essay and would see them in the History classroom for their lesson with Mrs McFall.

"Miss…" She said determinedly, approaching the desk. "About…"

"Your tattoo?" Mrs Mulgrew said in a sharp voice. "I'm guessing it's new, seeing as you were showing it off?"

Hollie shook her head hurriedly. "Oh, no, I got it almost two years ago. Scout saw it yesterday and told the others. They were going on at me to show them. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, but I wouldn't go around showing anyone else if I was you." The teacher advised, glancing at her watch. "Not all the staff here would gloss over the fact that you got it done illegally, not to mention that tattoos are expressly against the school rules." She smiled. "You'd better go; my class'll be here in a moment."

"Yeah… thanks, Miss." The teenager smiled, shouldering her bag and hurrying out of the classroom and in the direction of the History corridor.

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_**A/N: OK, guys... after watching the last episode, I've moved Hollie, Scout, Phoenix, Imogen and Connor to year 12. It's too confusing, but they're staying there because it fits better in the story!**_

_**Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this... lemme know? :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

"So… she just told you not to show anyone else?" Connor asked for about the fourth time since they'd arrived in the common room after History.

Hollie shrugged, not bothering to raise her gaze from her Maths text book. "Yes, Connor. She said that not everyone would overlook the fact that I shouldn't have it, like I said before. Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

"It's just…"

"Honestly, I don't know why you're always complaining about her. She's always dead nice to me. Far better than mine, anyway; at least yours is around."

Scout nodded. "She's got a point."

Grabbing his bag, Connor stood up abruptly. "You don't know anything."

Furrowing their eyebrows in concern, the two girls sat and watched as he stormed out of the common room, passing Imogen on his way out. She glanced over her shoulder, watching him disappear from sight, before heading over to sit with her friends.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked.

Hollie shrugged. "He didn't like that I pointed out he doesn't win the worst mother competition."

"Well, we don't ever really know what goes on behind closed doors, do we?" Imogen reminded them quietly.

Scout glanced at Hollie before speaking. "She can't be that bad. I read the school rules and I reckon tattoos are worth at least a week's detention. Mrs Mulgrew just told Hollie not to show anyone else."

"Can we stop talking about it, now, please?" The teenager asked, raising an eyebrow.

Her friends obliged, turning the conversation away from her and onto other topics. They chatted companionably until the bell rang and they parted; Hollie and Scout heading to double Maths and Imogen staying in the common room.

Barely listening to what Mr Chalk was telling them about equations, Hollie stared into space. She jumped when she heard her name and sat up straight, looking at the teacher. He repeated his question and she shook her head, unsure of the answer. For some reason, her mind wouldn't cooperate. She couldn't quite grasp the concepts she was struggling to find.

"Sorry, Sir… I don't know." She replied finally with a small shrug.

Mr Chalk looked a little surprised, but didn't push her, turning his attention to someone else for an answer. Hollie returned to staring into space until Scout nudged her and she opened her books. The numbers all seemed to blur into meaningless squiggles as she stared at them. They made no sense at all. Giving on trying to work out any of the answers, Hollie rested her chin on her hand and sighed.

"What's the matter?" Scout hissed.

She shrugged. "Nothing… I'm just… tired."

Unconvinced, the blonde returned to struggling with the equations and the brunette returned to staring into space. By the end of the double lesson she had completed none of the questions in the text book; something unusual for her.

"Er… Hollie?" Mr Chalk called as she headed out of the classroom, her head down. "Can I have a word?"

Nodding wordlessly, the teenager changed directions, skirting past her classmates and coming to a halt in front of the Maths teacher's desk. She stared at the piles of books and worksheets on the surface, rather than meeting his eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked after a moment. "It's just… it's not like you not to know the answer. I couldn't help noticing that you seemed to be somewhere else. How many of the problems did you get through?"

"None." Hollie answered truthfully at once. "Sorry, sir…"

Looking a little uncomfortable, Mr Chalk shrugged slightly. "Do you… do you want to talk about anything?"

"No, sir, thank you." The teenager answered straight away, looking up for the first time. "I'm just tired. I have loads of homework and stuff…"

"Ah, working too hard." He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Well, off you go and enjoy your lunchtime."

Gratefully, the teenager retreated from the classroom, pulling the door closed behind her. She headed quickly up to the sixth form common room to sign out on the list hanging beside the door, before moving to collect her things from her locker. There was no point hanging around for lunchtime as she had a free afternoon.

'**You left already?' **

Glancing at the text that came through on her mobile as she walked quickly back towards the School House, Hollie wondered whether or not to reply to Scout's message. Then she sighed and tapped quickly at the screen.

'**Yeah, I want to try and get my History essay done this afternoon so I've got tomorrow free and we can maybe do something.'**

'**Sounds good. Catch you later.'**

Reading the message that came back almost instantly, Hollie pushed her mobile into her pocket and broke into a run. She sprinted up the road, feeling the wind whipping in her hair. It was almost as though the thoughts in her mind were being blasted away; the cobwebs being swept out of sight.

The School House came into view and, for a split second, Hollie was gripped with the desire to run straight past. But she slowed to a walk and headed up the drive, battling with her oxygen starved lungs. Her hand was shaking as she put the key in the lock and turned. On the other side of the door, she leant against the cold wood and took several deep breaths.

As her heart rate returned to normal, the teenager headed up the stairs and unlocked her bedroom door. She dropped her bag on her bed and went straight to the wardrobe. Kneeling in front of it, she reached in and pulled out a small metal tin, which she unlocked with a tiny key on a chain around her neck. Even at her grandparents' house she'd kept it locked and the key on her all the time. It drove her Nan mad that she had secrets.

Moving to sit cross-legged on the floor beside her bed, she leant against it and opened the lid. Inside were her most prized possessions. The first things she removed were a couple of photos. One was of Hollie and her best friend, Emma, on her fourteenth birthday. It had been taken a matter of days before Emma had been killed and was the last one Hollie had of them together. There was a photo of five-year-old Hollie and her Nan on the teenager's first day of school. Another photo showed eleven-year-old Hollie and her Granddad on her first day at High School. The last photo had been taken the last time she'd seen her mother, before her Granddad's funeral.

Hollie remembered the day vividly. Her mother had turned up on the doorstep out of the blue and the first her daughter had known of her presence was hearing a rather heated argument. It was loud enough for the teenager to hear it in her bedroom with the door closed. Curiously, she moved to the top of the stairs, leaning over the bannisters to see what the commotion was. Upside down, she realised who the woman shouting at her grandparents was.

When given the choice, Hollie had opted to go for lunch with her mother. She had known it would be awkward, with neither of them really knowing what to say, but it was preferable to running around after her grandparents all day and doing chores. Her mother had asked someone to take a photo of them and, before taking Hollie home, she had printed off a copy and handed it to her. Awkwardly, she had told her that she understood if she didn't want it. Shaking her head, Hollie had slipped the photo into her purse.

Everything had been going well, until her mother's phone had rung and she'd made her excuses and left. Apparently there had been some kind of emergency at her flat. Hollie had watched her leave before pulling out the photo and ripping it in half. When she'd got home, however, she deeply regretted her spur of the moment action and taped it back together.

Now, she put the repaired photo on top of the others and returned her attention to searching for what she was looking for in the tin. Unfolding a sheet of paper, she looked at it carefully. Written on the paper was a list of mobile numbers, almost all of them scribbled out. Pulling out her mobile, Hollie dialled the first of the numbers that wasn't crossed out.

"The number you have called is unavailable, please–" The posh voice on the other end said.

Hanging up, Hollie reached over to her desk for a pen and crossed the number out. The next three numbers produced the same message and the two after that wouldn't even connect. Not having checked the numbers for a while, Hollie wasn't surprised that they were disconnected. Her mother changed her mobile number often so, by the time the teenager had managed to find out what they were from her Nan, they had usually already been cut off.

She finally reached the last number on the list and started at it with apprehension. Half of her hoped that this number was the right one and she'd finally have her mother's number. The other half of her was preparing herself to hear the familiar message or tone that would signal that it was yet another old number.

Taking a deep breath, she dialled and held her mobile to her ear. For a moment there was complete silence and then, almost miraculously, she heard the phone ringing. Panicking, Hollie hung up pushing her mobile away from her across the floor and staring at it, wide-eyed.


	5. Chapter 5

Scout almost threw open Hollie's door and narrowed her eyes at her. "Why's your mobile turned off?"

"Oh… battery died." The teenager told her quickly.

Shrugging, the blonde moved lazily across the room towards her and perched on her desk. "So? You got that essay done? Only I was thinking we could go shopping tomorrow?"

"Sounds good." Hollie agreed with a nod. "Lemme just…"

She moved across the room and retrieved her mobile from where she'd left it after hastily turning it off earlier. Plugging it into the charger beside her bed, she looked at it nervously. It was almost as though Hollie thought it would bite her.

"What is going on with you?" Scout demanded. "You've been weird all day… Oh! Is this about parents' evening? Ever since Imogen told you about it you've been acting like a right nutter."

"What?" Hollie jumped at her words. "Course not…"

"It is, isn't it? You want your mum to come."

"No I don't."

Scout sighed. "Look, just let her know about it. If she doesn't come that's her problem."

"Scout… we're in Scotland, if you've forgotten. I don't even know where she is. She could be in… Australia… for all I know."

"Well… we can look her up on the internet." Scout suggested. "Just type her name in and see what comes up."

Hollie shook her head quickly. She didn't want Scout or anyone else to know that her mum didn't want her. It was bad enough that they knew what they did, but she didn't think she would be able to cope if she tracked her mother down and then she was rejected again.

"No, just… leave it, yeah?" She almost begged. "Please."

"Well… what's her name? I could look it up for you?"

"No!" Hollie almost exploded, panicking. "Just leave it!"

Scout stared at her in confusion for a moment, before shrugging and looking offended. "Fine. Suit yourself."

She stalked out of the room, banging the door behind her and leaving Hollie staring at the screen of her laptop blankly. The girl felt bad for snapping at her friend, but she was relieved that it had had the desired outcome. Sneaking a glance over her shoulder at her mobile which was still mercifully turned off, Hollie threw herself back into her essay until it was time to go downstairs for dinner.

x-x

As they'd arranged, Scout and Hollie headed into town the next morning to do some shopping. They were joined by Jade, Imogen and Madi and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves, despite the icy weather. A combination of choosing the weirdest outfits for each other to try on and posing in various places around town meant that Hollie had plenty of photos to stick up on the wall above her bed.

Later on, the girls were joined by Josh, Tariq, Phoenix, Connor and Gus and the ten teenagers headed to the cinema. Stupidly, they let the boys chose the film and so, all the way back to the School House, Hollie, Scout and Jade were constantly on edge. Tariq and Phoenix took great delight in scaring them at every opportunity, relishing the screams that were the girls' instinctive reactions to their pranks.

"What time do you call this?" Maggie demanded, standing in the doorway as the five of them made their way towards home, laughing and talking. She put her hands on her hips and glared ferociously around. "You're nearly two hours past your curfew."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Scout apologised flippantly, attempting to pass the woman. "Let us in, will you? It's freezing out here!"

"You can come in, but you're all grounded for a week. No going out except for school and pre-arranged extra-curricular activities."

"What?!" The teenagers argued at the same time.

Maggie held up a hand to stem their ranting. "You know the rules and you broke them. Now you have to deal with the consequences."

Moaning, they filed inside and separated, heading to their bedrooms. The complaints stayed with the woman until she heard five bedroom doors close and silence descended. Grinning, she shook her head and locked up, before following their path upstairs and into her own bedroom.

x-x

Staring at the contact details on her mobile, Hollie took a deep breath. As soon as she'd woken up on Sunday morning, she had been trying to persuade herself to press the call button and speak to her mother. It was harder to do than she'd thought and, so far, the sixteen-year-old had spent almost an hour just staring at the device in her hands.

"Whatcha doing?" Scout demanded, bounding into the room and flopping on Hollie's bed. She was still wearing her pyjamas, along with a big, fluffy dressing down and slippers which ended in large puppy heads.

Hurriedly, the girl retuned her phone's display to the home screen and put it on the cabinet beside her bed. "Nothing much. You?"

"We're gonna have pyjama day in the living room if you fancy it? Movies all day?"

Hollie smiled. "Sounds good… lucky I forced you to finish your essay for Mrs Mulgrew on Friday, isn't it?"

"Have I told you that you're the best?" Scout asked with a broad grin.

"Once or twice."

Leaving her mobile on the beside cabinet, Hollie followed Scout from her room, closing her door behind her. They settled down on one of the sofas in the large living room with the others taking up their own positions around the room. Even Maggie and Budgeon joined them for a while, although the latter complained the whole way through the film until the House Mistress ordered him to leave and do something useful by making everyone hot chocolate.

It wasn't until that evening when Hollie retrieved her mobile and remembered what she'd been planning to do. After a couple more moments of staring at the number on the display, the teenager took a deep breath and pressed the button.

Holding the phone to her ear, she listened to the ringing. Half of Hollie wanted her mother to answer, but the other half, the more realistic half, knew that if she did the teenager would have no idea what to say or do.

"Hello?"

Hollie froze. For a moment she considered simply hanging up and shoving her mobile out of sight, trying to pretend she had never called. Then she realised that her mother would probably just check the number and call her back.

"Hi… is that Jodi?" She asked, panicking that her mother would see through the flimsy pretence or recognise her voice.

There was a pause. "No, sorry, I think you must have the wrong number."

"Oh, I'm sorry to bother you."

Hanging up immediately, Hollie dropped the phone onto the bed as though it was a venomous snake that was about to bite her. She chewed her thumbnail, her gaze transfixed to the device as she thought. She had spoken to her mum and the woman hadn't had a clue who she was. Hollie wasn't sure whether to be relieved or offended by this.

After what seemed a long time, she shook her head and moved to her desk. Gathering up her things ready for the next day and pushing them into her school bag, she tried to focus on other things. Reaching back, she picked up her mobile and changed the alarm to ten o'clock. That would give her plenty of time to get to school for her first lesson after break.

Knowing that it would probably take her a long time to fall asleep, and when she finally did she would no doubt dream about her mother, Hollie climbed into bed. She pulled the covers up under her chin and snuggled up with her old teddy, closing her eyes and hoping for the best.

x-x

As she'd expected, Hollie found that her dreams had been invaded by her mother. She woke numerous times in the night, her eyes flicking open and her breathing shallow. There was no real reason for the fear that seemed to grip her as she lay awake in the darkness – she wasn't scared of her mother, she had never done anything to warrant Hollie being afraid of her. Examining the feelings closely, the teenager finally decided that what she was scared of, was rejection.

Reaching out, Hollie absentmindedly pressed the circular button below the large screen of her iPhone. For a moment she was confused as to why it didn't respond and the backlit display didn't cut through the darkness. Then she remembered that she had turned it off and struggled to decide whether to turn it on. On one hand, she realised that it was unlikely that her mother would had rung her back, let alone that she was likely to even be awake at this early hour. But then she wasn't sure whether she would get any more sleep if, when the screen blinked into life, she had a message or missed call.

Deciding that, as unlikely as it was, any discovery could wake until the morning, Hollie turned over and clamped her eyes closed. Her grip on her teddy bear was so tight that she was forced to release her hold slightly due to the ache in her fingers. Finally, waves of sleep overtook her and she drifted into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

Wednesday was almost Hollie's most packed day of lessons. Tuesday involved three double lessons in a row. Wednesday was almost as bad, with double Medieval History with Miss Jordan followed by double Statistical Maths with Mr Jackson. Lunchtime, and her free lesson straight after, provided a welcome break before the last lesson of the day; English with Mrs Mulgrew. Hollie still couldn't work out what Connor's problem with his mother was. Then again, she reminded herself, she couldn't exactly begin to judge anyone on their family relationships. And, as Imogen had pointed out, there was no way of knowing just what went on behind closed doors.

The teenagers took their seats at the three desks at the very back of the classroom and waited for their peers to settle themselves down and Mrs Mulgrew to begin the lesson. She informed them that, for parents' evening the following week, she wanted to arrange a display of work, based on what they were doing in the lessons.

"I would like you to re-read the passage in chapter four, where Mr Hale tells Margaret that they are leaving Helstone and moving to Milton." The Scottish woman commanded, moving to sit in the chair behind her desk. "Then I would like you to imagine that you are in her position and write a diary extract to explain your feelings on the matter."

"Are we pretending to be Margaret or are we writing as ourselves?" Imogen asked, raising her hand to clarify what was expected.

"That is up to you." Mrs Mulgrew said calmly. "If you feel that you would prefer put yourself in Margaret's shoes and write as her, do that. If, however, you decide that you would rather write as yourself, based on your own experiences, than you are welcome to take that route; the choice is yours. But I want to be able to relate to how you are feeling at that precise moment as I read your work. I want them in by tomorrow, so I can get them looked over so they're ready for Wednesday."

Within a couple of minutes, the chatter died down and Hollie found herself staring at the text on the page of her novel blankly. She could easily draw on her own feelings on being told she was moving, leaving everything she knew behind her and facing something new entirely. When she'd been six, her grandparents had moved from Bradford to Oldham, uprooting her from her friends and her school. Four years later they had moved again, more than two hundred miles south, to London. To the teenager, it didn't make much sense; her grandfather had been almost seventy at the time and her grandmother only five years his junior.

Flipping open her notebook, Hollie started on a rough draft of her piece of writing. She crossed sentences out and scribbled through words and phrases as she went, her thoughts flowing out of her almost faster than she could write them down.

_I can't believe what I've just heard. I'm moving. Again. _

_This will be the fifth place I've lived and the fifth school I've been to; St Philip's C of E Primary until year 5, St Mary's C of E Primary for year 6, Alperton Community School for year 7 and half of year 8, Canley High School between year 8 and year 11 and now Waterloo Road for my last two years._

_This time, I suppose I understand the reasons for moving – Granddad's dead and Nan's gone into a home. I have nowhere to live and I was offered a place in the school house. It would have been stupid to say no._

_But realising that makes me wonder about all the other times. The last time we moved house Granddad was 73 and already not in great health. Nan said we needed to downsize; again. That always seems to be the reason we move; downsizing. In Manchester, from when I was six to when I was ten, we had a huge detached house; six bedrooms, four bathrooms, four reception rooms and a big garden with a pond. When we moved to London we moved into a four bedroom semi-detached house. Three years later, we moved again to a two bedroom bungalow. _

_I get why we needed to downsize. Nan and Granddad weren't getting any younger and they weren't getting any healthier. I understood that. I just wondered why they went to the trouble of moving so many times rather than going for a small house to begin with. I hated being torn away from my schools and my teachers and my friends. I hated having to leave places I knew and was comfortable in, being dumped somewhere new where I was the new girl. Again._

_But this is going to be the last school I'm going to; Waterloo Road. I've only been to Scotland once before; my Great-Uncle's wedding when I was eleven. Apart from that, the furthest I've been from home was to Dorset on a school trip when I was eleven. Moving to Scotland from London seems like a massive thing. I don't know anyone, I don't know anywhere… I don't know anything. I am sixteen and I am completely alone._

_But maybe that's a positive? Maybe the fact that no one knows me, no one knows anything about my past, my family, will work out for the best. Staying in London means sympathy; sympathy that Granddad's dead and sympathy that Nan's in a home. It means sympathy that Mum is never around. I don't need sympathy and I definitely don't want it. _

_I just want to get on with things._

_Moving also means a fresh start._

_So no, I don't think moving again is a bad thing at all. _

_In fact, the more I think about it, the happier I am about the whole situation. This is a brand new start. I don't have to pretend to be the person I think my grandparents want me to be any more. I don't have to carry on living the way I was. I don't have to wait around in hospital waiting rooms or outside the Church Hall or the bingo. I don't have to constantly worry about whether the creaking in the middle of the night means I have to get up to call the doctor or even an ambulance. _

_That sounds awful and selfish and maybe it is. But that's how I feel._

_A brand new start, four hundred miles away from here sounds just about perfect right now. I get the chance to work out what I want to do, who I am, who I want to be. A chance to forget what I've done. __After all, as Abraham Lincoln said, '__The best way to predict your future is to create it.'_

No sooner had Hollie written the last word, the end of lesson bell rang. With a start, she started to pack her things away, eager to leave the school. Dragging her mind back to all the different places she'd lived and all the different schools she'd been to over the past twelve years had raised memories that she had forgotten about. It was exhausting. Pushing the essay into her bag, she knew that she wouldn't be handing it in. Tonight she'd write a different version that wasn't nearly as honest.

"You alright?" Scout asked, linking their arms as they headed down the stairs and out of the school.

Hollie nodded, waving to Imogen and Connor as they left them at the gates and headed home. "Yeah, course. Just… tired." With a smile, she changed the subject. "Listen… what are we getting Im for her birthday? It's on Friday, so we've only really got tonight and tomorrow to think of something."

Wrinkling her nose as she thought, Scout shrugged. "Let's skive PE tomorrow afternoon and go into town then."

"I've got a double free after break, too."

"OK… I've got one Chemistry lesson after break, so we can go after that. We'll have six hours to find something before we have to be back for dinner. I reckon we can sort it in that time."

Laughing, Hollie shook her head and nudged her friend with her shoulder, totally cheered up. "You're such an idiot!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Happy birthday!" Hollie exclaimed as Imogen walked into the common room on Friday morning. From her perch on the table she was the only one directly facing the doors and so the first to spot her. She beamed and stood up to give Imogen a hug, drawing everyone else's attention to the teenager.

"_Here she is!_" Scout added, turning round and beaming at their friend. "_Happy birthday!_"

"_Thanks._"

"_I squared it with Maggie that you can come round tonight._" The blonde continued excitedly.

Imogen nodded and smiled, but she didn't seem as enthusiastic as the others. "Cool."

Noticing a look passing between the birthday girl and Connor, Hollie winked at Scout, who couldn't resist speaking. "_You coming?_"

"_Nothing else on…_" He assented with a casual shrug. Hollie smirked and looked at her hands.

"_D'you want us to bring drinks and stuff?_" Imogen asked, shuffling slightly uncomfortably at the looks passing between her friends.

Scout sighed. "_What we need is a bottle of cider._"

"Cider? How old are you, twelve?" Hollie giggled, shaking her head. "We need a bottle or two of vodka!"

"Get you," Phoenix laughed, "Miss hardcore over there!"

As Hollie shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him, Connor sat up straighter on the sofa. "_Count me out; I don't drink._"

"_Ohh… what's up? Scared of Mummy finding out?_" The blonde pressed, teasing him.

Connor didn't reply, but they were prevented from pressing the matter further as the bell rang and the teenagers gathered up their things. "Speaking of your mother," Hollie said with a grin, "we'd better get to English."

"I'll catch you up." Connor told them as they moved towards the door. "Toilet."

Shrugging, they left, moving towards the English corridor. Hollie, not being the biggest Shakespeare fan, was easily distracted away from _Hamlet_ and more interested in whispering with Scout about the evening ahead of them. When Mrs Mulgrew put them into groups to discuss the role of women in the play, they struggled to stay focused, earning themselves a frown as they dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Pack it in, you two." The teacher ordered as she passed. "I don't know what's got into you this morning."

Attempting to settle down to their work, the girls were distracted only moments later by Mrs Mulgrew starting to sing. Exchanging a look with her friend, Hollie laid down her pen and rested her chin on her hand, watching the conversation between Imogen, Connor and his Mum with interest. Imogen looked embarrassed, but Connor looked totally annoyed, especially as the teacher turned and walked back towards her desk.

"_Scout,_" she called as she passed them again, "_swap places with Imogen, please._"

Frowning at each other, Hollie watched as her best friend stood up and gathered her things. When the other girl sat in the recently vacated seat, she sighed deeply.

"What's wrong with her?" The younger girl muttered, nodding her head towards their teacher who was now back at her desk.

Imogen shrugged. "I dunno… it was dead weird. She told me there was nothing wrong with being easily pleased and confiscated my ring."

"Maybe she's just being protective of Connor?" Hollie suggested.

"Maybe…"

As the bell rang at the end, they filed out of the classroom and separated with most of them heading off to their next lesson and Hollie deciding to go to the hall to watch the boys rowing challenge during her free.

She dumped her bag on one of the benches and went to stand with Madi and Phoenix, watching Tariq, Josh and Gus on the machines.

"How far are they supposed to be rowing again?" She asked the girl, her head on one side as she watched them interestedly.

"I dunno…"

"They're rowing the distance from Greenock to Edinburgh." The blonde woman supervising them said, overhearing their conversation.

"_Greenock to Edinburgh?_" Madi repeated incredulously. "_Isn't that like a hundred miles?_"

"_Clarkson reckons it's about 80._" Phoenix informed them.

The blonde woman smiled. "_77 to be precise._"

"_By lunchtime?_"

"That's crazy!" Hollie said, shaking her head.

"_Easy._" Phonix argued with a nonchalant shrug.

"_Come on, boys! Don't let the pace drop._"

Phoenix shook his head. "_Come on, slackers, what's this?_"

Hollie stood with her friends for a while, but soon got bored of watching the boys on the rowing machines and went back to the common room to spend her free working on some homework. When the bell rang for break and her friends appeared, Hollie noticed that they were avoiding mentioning the situation in the English classroom and steered clear of it herself.

After break, Hollie walked with Scout to Maths. Connor and Imogen followed behind, deep in conversation. Glancing over her shoulder, the blonde teenager suggested that if they didn't get together by themselves, she was only too happy to play cupid that night at Imogen's party. Phoenix rolled his eyes, but Hollie laughed and said she would help.

"_Davidson?_" Mr Chalk called, going through the register.

"_Not here, sir._" Scout told him.

"Evans?"

From beside the blonde, Hollie nodded. "Here."

"_Hamilton?_" There was a short silence. "_What, no Stephanie either?_"

"I ain't seen her today, sir." The brunette told him with a shrug. "She weren't in the common room."

Mr Chalk sighed and continued with the register. He hadn't even reached the end, when the scrape of chair legs on the floor and a scuffling sound made Hollie and Scout whirl round interestedly. They barely turned in time to see Imogen storming past them and throwing open the classroom door, stalking away down the corridor.

"_Hey!_" The teacher complained uselessly. "_I haven't finished the register yet._"

"What was that about?" Scout muttered.

Hollie shrugged and twisted in her seat, attracting Connor's attention. He looked at her reluctantly. "What's going on?"

"I dunno…" Connor shrugged unconvincingly, not meeting their eyes.

"Yeah, right, what did you say?"

"Just… you know that blonde woman helping with the rowing challenge? Well she might have sort of chatted me up."

"No way…" Scout breathed.

"You're kidding me?" The brunette said at the same moment.

Glancing at each other, Scout and Hollie snorted with laughter at the thought, much to Connor's annoyance. He glared at them furiously as they giggled until they turned around and began whispering between themselves. Mr Chalk called them to attention after a couple of minutes and managed to settle the class down enough to launch into his lesson on advanced quadratic equations.


	8. Chapter 8

"You going home?" Scout asked as they headed into the common room at the start of lunchtime.

Hollie shook her head. "I might go later, but I thought I'd stick around for a bit and watch the boys."

"Cool, shall we go down now?"

Dumping their bags on one of the sofas, the teenagers linked arms and headed off in the direction of the gym. Phoenix, Gus and Tariq were rowing and the girls went to stand with Madi, who gave them a quick overview of what was going on; how far they'd rowed, how much further they had to go and how long they had left.

Impressed by the effort they were putting in, Scout and Hollie joined in with the cheering and clapping until they were interrupted by the impatient, incessant ringing of the fire alarm. Calmly, the boys stopped rowing and everyone began heading out of the gym, aiming for the exits.

"_Right, that's us, we've got to go._" Josh said quietly, glancing in the direction of the bell.

"_Don't stop!_" The blonde woman Hollie had learnt was Imogen's mother – and the cause of her storming out of their earlier maths lesson – ordered, holding up her hands. No one took any notice of her words, filing out of the room.

Josh shook his head, looking a little panicked. "_No, no, we can't. It's procedure._"

"_But it's probably just a false alarm._"

"_You obviously don't know this place, do you?_" Phoenix told her, ushering Hollie, Madi and Scout in front of him.

"_Oi, fingers crossed we might get the afternoon off!_" Scout grinned as she and Hollie caught up with Imogen in the corridor. "_Start the party early!_"

"_What party?_" Josh asked, overhearing her words.

The three girls exchanged a glance awkwardly and then the birthday girl shrugged. "_It's just a get-together to celebrate my birthday._"

Josh grinned. "_Sounds great._"

"_Count us in._" Madi added beside him before they headed outside.

Noticing the apologetic look on Scout's face and the slightly annoyed expression Imogen was sending her, Hollie changed the subject. "What d'you reckon's happened then? Someone smoking in the toilets?"

"Probably… it won't be anything interesting. Last time we had a fire alarm it as just the grill exploding in the kitchens."

Hollie grinned. "That sounds pretty epic to me! Exploding grills? Brilliant!"

"_No need to get excited._" Mrs Mulgrew called, fixing her attention on the three girls who had just been joined by Connor. "_I'm sure it's just a test. Stay in your classes! Do not try my patience!_"

"Why's she in such a bad mood today?" Hollie muttered to Connor.

He shook his head, apparently unwilling to answer. Coming to the conclusion that they must have had an argument at home, the brunette shrugged and listened as the teacher called out names, ready to answer to her own. Before long, they were ushered back inside. Connor vanished almost at once, causing the girls to exchange a look of confusion before they made their way to the canteen to grab some lunch.

They had almost finished when Imogen's mum appeared at the end of the table, beaming around at them. The tension between the teenager and her mother was palpable and Hollie found herself almost feeling glad that she didn't have the sort of relationship with her own mother that meant she was put in situations like this. What with Connor and his mum and Imogen and hers, Hollie was beginning to think she had a better deal after all.

"_Hey, you lot! Get your lunch down you._" Mrs Stewart commanded. "_We're on a mission!_"

"_You what?_"

"_We're men down; won't get across the finish line without a bit of moral support._" The woman explained, holding up a short cheerleading-style skirt and waving it at them. She beamed around encouragingly, apparently not put off by the mixture of disbelief and disgust on the faces of the girls in front of her. "_Give the boys a bit of a boost; cheer them home. Should be enough costumes to fit you all._"

"_Is this a joke?_" Lula asked.

Her sentiments were echoed by Hollie, who repeated the words she'd said to Connor earlier that morning. "You're kidding me?"

"_Come on, it'll be a laugh!_" Gus told them, appearing behind Imogen's mum and looking at the cheerleading outfits in amusement.

Pushing one of the skirts into his hands, Madi raised an eyebrow. "_You wear it then._"

"_Alright._" He agreed with a shrug.

Jade giggled. "_This I've gotta see._"

"_Please, Mum, don't do this._" Imogen begged.

"_Mum?_" Scout sat up straight and looked between the pair of them with interest. Apparently Hollie was the only one at the table that Imogen had confided in about the woman's true identity.

"_No way?_" Gus breathed. "_You serious?_"

"_I had her young._" Imogen's mum shrugged. "_Come on! Everyone else is up for it._"

"_I'm not everyone else._"

The woman shrugged again. "_Suit yourself._"

Feeling slightly guilty that Imogen was upset, Hollie allowed herself to be cajoled into taking part in the cheerleading scheme. Mrs Stewart, Sally, taught them the simplest cheer imaginable and some actions to go with it and the girls practised it several times, before she announced that she thought they were ready to be unleashed and lead them into the gym.

"I wish I had gone home now…" Hollie muttered to Scout as they headed through the double doors.

Her friend laughed and nudged her in the ribs. "Give over; you're loving this."

"What makes you think that?"

"The stupid grin on your face." Scout told her, laughing again.

"Right!" Mrs Stewart said, before Hollie could reply. "Ready girls? _Five, six, seven eight…_"

Together, the teenagers launched into their cheer. "_Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Go Josh! Go Phoenix! Go Tariq!_"

"_Wow… not bad… for a fat girl…_" Madi muttered as Rhiannon slid into the splits. Scout chuckled appreciatively, but Hollie nudged the older girl in the ribs and rolled her eyes.

"_Better than you, cupcake!_" Rhiannon shot back with a simpering smile.

Hollie snorted with laughter, earning herself a frown from her friend.

"_Come on, boys, really push it! You're nearly there! Right, come on, let's cheer them on._"

They started waving the pom-poms around again as Gus burst into the room, dressed in the full cheerleading outfit and dancing around like a madman. Everyone started laughing as they watched his antics, until Scout glanced at her watch and announced that there were only ten seconds left on the clock. The cheers erupted again as the crowd realised that they had achieved their goal.

x-x

As Miss Donnegan laid into them about the fire in the boiler room, Hollie found herself staring at her in confusion. She was sure she recognised her, but wasn't sure why or how. Paying no attention to Scout and Madi's bitchy remarks about the woman as they changed back into their school uniforms, Hollie racked her brains to work out why she suddenly thought she knew the woman.

Unable to place her, and wondering whether it was just the London accent that had thrown her, Hollie headed back to the common room to grab her stuff, before walking home to help Maggie set up for Imogen's party.

Before long, everyone else was back and then, before they knew it, their guests turned up. Mr Budgen was as cheerful as ever, handing round food with a look of disgust on his face as he surveyed the room of teenagers. Hollie grinned and thanked him, taking a sausage roll off the plate he was holding and moving to perch on the arm of the sofa beside Imogen.

"You alright?" She asked gently, sliding down onto the seat as Madi squashed in beside her and bashing her friend as she almost landed in her lap. "Sorry."

"I'm fine…"

"No, you ain't." The younger girl disagreed, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong? Is it your mum?"

Imogen shrugged as Scout wandered over and joined them. "_Still no sign?_"

"Connor?" Hollie clarified. Both her friends nodded. Moments later, she glanced up, before nudging Scout. "Speak of the devil…"

She, Scout and Madi turned away, occupying themselves in their own conversation. The party progressed uneventfully for a little while, until Imogen's mum arrived with Gus in tow. On her way up to her bedroom, Hollie spotted Connor and the birthday girl sitting on the stairs kissing and turned abruptly to break the news to their friends. No sooner had she done so, than Connor was sent home as Maggie was informed he was grounded and Rhiannon appeared to tell Imogen that her mother was upstairs in Phoenix's room with Gus.

"And there was me thinking this was going to be a quiet celebration…" Mr Budgeon grumbled, breaking up the party and sending the guests home, as Imogen headed in search of her mother with Maggie on her heels.

* * *

_**A/N: Hello darlings!**_

_**Massive thanks to all of you who are reading this! If you fancy leaving a review and letting me know what you think it would mean a lot :)**_

_**x**_


	9. Chapter 9

At break time on Monday morning, Hollie ran into Imogen in the corridor. The older girl had been avoiding their messages all weekend, but now they were back at school there was no escape. Knowing that she probably didn't want to discuss the events of the party, Hollie smiled and directed the conversation to the subject of her and Connor instead.

"Have you invited your Mum to parents' evening?" Imogen asked suddenly as they leant against the wall outside Mrs Mulgrew's classroom.

Hollie frowned. "I purposely didn't mention your Mum, so you decide to bring mine up?"

"I was only wondering…"

The sixteen-year-old didn't answer. She had tried to forget about her mother since the phone call that had unsettled her so much, but it was almost impossible. On Friday, Imogen's birthday, the realisation that her mother's birthday was coming up had hit her hard. Hollie wondered whether it was some kind of punishment for something she'd done that her new friend's birthday was exactly a week before her mother's and so would always be a reminder.

"Hollie?" She jumped as she realised that Mrs Mulgrew was looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Oh… sorry, Miss. I…"

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"No. Sorry. I'll be fine." She assured her, smiling weakly and moving into the room, taking a seat beside Scout.

The blonde shot her a bewildered glance as she stared at her hands, not paying any attention to what was going on around her. After being nudged in the ribs, Hollie opened her exercise book and started the task that Mrs Mulgrew had set. She was deep in concentration, when the woman crouched beside her and laid a hand on her arm, making the teenager jump.

"Are you sure you're alright, Hollie?" The teacher asked in a low voice so that only the two of them could hear.

"I'm fine, Miss, honestly."

Unconvinced, Mrs Mulgrew pulled Hollie's work towards her and glanced at it quickly. She nodded, satisfied, before making a couple of suggestions and replacing it in front of the teenager. Apparently convinced that, whatever was bothering Hollie, it wasn't affecting the standard of her work the teacher moved away to speak to someone else.

"What did she want?" Scout muttered under her breath.

Hollie shrugged. "Just checking my work."

x-x

"How long is it until half term?" Scout groaned, lying on the sofa in the common room at the end of school two days later.

"Too long." Imogen muttered from the other sofa. "At least you two haven't got the stress of parents' evening tonight to deal with. The idea of my mum back here again…"

Hollie smiled, seeing her friend wincing as she remembered the events of the Friday before and deciding to gloss over it. "You'll be alright. What bad things are they gonna have to say about you?"

"Well… none I hope." Her friend agreed grudgingly.

"I'm just glad that we don't have to come." Scout said, yawning and stretching lazily. "I haven't even started my homework for tomorrow or Mulgrew's _Hamlet_ essay for Friday."

"I told you to do it." Hollie smirked, causing Scout to throw the magazine beside her across the room. The brunette laughed. "I finished my essay at the weekend."

"Course you did, little miss goody-goody." The blonde teased good-naturedly. "If I…"

Rolling her eyes and sighing in mock-exasperation, Hollie grinned. "Yes, I'll read it for you."

"We should get going… I've got lots to do."

Smiling at Imogen, her friends gathered their things and headed out of the building. It was unusually chilly, causing both girls to shiver simultaneously and zip up their coats more securely. They chatted and laughed as they walked and, briefly, Hollie marvelled at the fact that they spent so much time in each other's company and yet never seemed to run out of things to say to each other. As soon as they entered the School House, Maggie cornered them, asking for one of the girls to assist her with cooking dinner. Rolling her eyes at the pleading look Scout was sending her, Hollie agreed and followed the woman into the kitchen.

"That one there, pet…" Maggie said, pointing at a collection of saucepans on the side. "Thanks."

Hollie nodded as she handed over the container, before returning to her task of peeling potatoes. Maggie didn't speak again for a couple of moments, singing along softly to the radio. The teenager smiled as she listened, wondering whether this was what it was like to have a normal family. Obviously forgetting she was not alone, Maggie's singing grew louder and she started to dance, making Hollie giggle.

"Oh!" The woman stopped suddenly, her eyes catching Hollie's and a pink tinge appeared in her cheeks. "Got a bit carried away, there. I bet you were thinking there was a cat being strangled somewhere."

"No… not at all. It was sort of… homey." Hollie replied, shrugging and turning away.

There was a long pause with only the sound of the radio and the sounds of cooking to break the silence. Both females were deep in thought; neither realising that their minds were on topics not a million miles apart. Maggie was wondering just how different the teenager's childhood had been from the one she had enjoyed. Hollie was wondering, if her mother had stuck around, just how different things might have been for her growing up.

"Hols…" Maggie started after a while. "Scout was mentioning that you were thinking of telling your Mum about parents' evening. Did you manage to?"

"What?" The teenager demanded, almost slamming the peeler and potato down on the chopping board and turning around quickly. "When did Scout tell you that?"

"The other day? She was helping me with the hovering and it just slipped out. Listen, love, if you want help finding your Mum–"

Shaking her head, Hollie turned back to the counter so that she wasn't meeting Maggie's eyes. "I don't need help. I know where… I have her mobile number. If I wanted her here I would have asked her. But I don't, so I didn't."

"Are you sure?"

"What d'you mean?"

Maggie folded her arms and leant against the cooker. "Are you sure you don't want her here?"

"I said so, didn't I?"

"Yeah, that's what you said, but is it what you mean?" The woman asked. She was slightly wary of whether the girl was listening, as she had picked up the peeler and resumed her task. "Hollie, are you scared that if you phone your Mum and ask her to come she'll say no? Would that be worse than not asking at all? Are you even sure she doesn't want to see you?"

"You don't know anything about my Mum."

Hollie's words were so quiet that Maggie almost missed them. Trying not to spook the teenager, she stepped forwards and laid a hand gently on her arm. "Then tell me."

"No."

"Come on, pet. You'll feel better if you talk about what's bothering you."

The teenager snorted. "Really?"

"Just give it a go, eh?"

There was a long pause. Hollie continued peeling the potato, not seeming to realise that she had almost peeled the entire thing away. "I don't know what to think."

"About what?"

"My mother." She snapped. "Sometimes I think she cares, other times it's obvious she doesn't. I spent the first ten years of my life believing that she would come when I needed her. I finally realised that the only person I can rely on is me." Taking a deep breath, she put down the peeler and tiny sphere of potato that was left in one piece. "Can I go, please?"

Nodding, Maggie watched the teenager almost run from the kitchen. She sighed and put her hands on her hips, thinking about what Hollie had said. It was a story she'd heard many times before in different forms.


	10. Chapter 10

"_I can't believe I were picked for the cross country team._" Scout said for about the twelfth time the next morning as she, Hollie, Rhiannon and Phoenix made their way through the school gates and towards the main building.

"_Big deal._" Rhiannon muttered grumpily beside her.

Hollie rolled her eyes, exchanging a look with her friend, who smirked. "_Says the heffer who didn't get picked for either team._"

Before the red-head could reply, Phoenix spotted the charm on the chain around Scout's neck and reached for it, a smile curling his lips. "_What's this?_"

"_Oh… shut up, right?_" The blonde chuckled, swatting him away. "_It's my good luck charm._"

"_You're actually gonna wear it, then?_"

Scout shrugged. "_Yeah! I always wear it when I run. My mum gave it me._"

"_You heard from her lately?_" Phoenix asked gently, his eyes meeting Hollie's for a split second.

Behind them, Rhiannon moved closer interestedly. "_What? Where is she?_"

"_Shut up, Rhiannon._" The boy muttered. "_You know where she is. The whole school's heard about it._"

"_Yeah? Well obviously I didn't._"

Embarrassed, Scout cleared her throat reluctantly. "_She's in prison._"

"_No way?_" The younger girl looked delighted at the prospect of something new to hold over the blonde. Hollie glared at her. "_I knew you were a skank, but seriously?_"

"_Scout… she were only joking, alright?_"

Fixing Rhiannon with a furious stare, Hollie pushed her arm through Scout's and drew her away. Once they were clear of the younger girl, she gave the blonde's arm a squeeze. "Ignore her. She's just a jealous cow. No one likes her, really. Besides, no one even bothered to ask her about the competition, did they? You wrote questions for the quiz and you're doing the run. Forget about her."

With a nod, a sigh and a weak smile, Scout agreed and they headed inside just as the bell rang. Both having written questions for the University Challenge style quiz taking place that morning between Waterloo Road and Havelock High in the hall, Hollie and Scout had been given the morning off to sit and watch the competition. Although it seemed quite boring to the teenagers, they had to concede that it was better than being in lessons.

As they approached the desk where they had to hand their mobiles in, Scout paused, staring at the screen of her phone as though she'd seen a ghost. Handing over her own mobile and slipping the token she received in return into her blazer pocket, Hollie turned to see what the matter was. Phoenix glanced at her worriedly and shrugged.

"Scout?" Hollie asked gently, putting a hand on her friend's arm.

"It's my…" She started before holding out the mobile for her friends to read the message that had just appeared there.

Hollie read it quickly, her mouth dropping open in surprise. Somewhere in the back of her mind suspicions were stirring. Something didn't seem right; the timing of the information Scout had just received struck her as odd. Keeping this opinion to herself, however, she turned to look at Rhiannon, who appeared beside them, looking intrigued.

"_What's happened?_" The younger girl asked.

"_Scout's mum's been given an early release._" The boy informed her. "_She's coming to meet her after school._"

"_You gonna go see her?_" Rhiannon asked quickly, fuelling Hollie's suspicions further.

"_I know what my mum did were wrong…_"

Phoenix snorted. "_An understatement!_"

"_But I can't just ignore her, can I?_"

"_Yeah, you can._"

"_I do kind of know what it's like._" The red-head said gently. Hollie had to stop herself glaring at her. Now she knew that something was definitely wrong. There was no way Rhiannon would have done such a U-turn in her treatment of Scout in such a short amount of time.

"_Yeah, right…_"

Rhiannon shrugged. "_You only get one family, don't you?_"

"Come on…" Hollie muttered, pulling Scout forward. "Let's get into the hall."

As they left Phoenix to head to his lesson and settled themselves into seats facing the podium on the stage, Hollie thought about the revelation. It seemed like too much of a coincidence to her that Rhiannon found out that Scout's mum was in prison and then, less than twenty minutes later, Scout had a message to say her mum was coming to see her. Wondering whether she should say anything, Hollie glanced sideways and spotted the preoccupied look on the blonde's face. She wondered whether she was just being cynical because of her own mother and how many times she had felt let down. Deciding to see if anything else happened, the brunette settled down to watch the quiz.

"Mr Budgen's getting a bit into this, ain't he?" Hollie whispered to her friend a while later as Gus correctly answered a question that, if he'd got the answer wrong, would have shown him up as a complete idiot.

"He's loving it!" Scout agreed with a giggle. "Look at him, sitting up there like some sort of King."

They both dissolved into giggles, earning themselves a stern look from Mr Byrne, who turned around to see who was making the noise. Pulling themselves together quickly, they settled back in their seats, resuming their whispered conversation and only keeping half an ear trained on the quiz taking place in front of them.

"_And the winners, by an impressive margin of 19 points, are Waterloo Road!_" Mr Budgen announced at last, causing the two girls to join in with the cheering and applause going on around them.

They headed quickly out of the hall and Scout hurried off to get changed for the run, leaving Hollie to go in search of Imogen and Connor, who hadn't been lucky enough to be allowed to sit in on the quiz.

"Alright, lovebirds?" Hollie joked, putting herself deliberately between her friends and grinning at them. Neither looked particularly amused, so she pulled a face. "What's wrong with you two?"

After exchanging a quick look, Imogen shrugged. "Mr Chalk had a little kid in his class and it looked like she had chicken pox."

"Eh?"

"She had spots and everything… it was well weird." Connor agreed with a shrug. Sensing that Hollie could tell she wasn't being told something, he shouldered his bag more firmly and nodded towards the front doors. "We should get out there or we'll miss the start of the race."

Agreeing, Hollie followed her friends outside, narrowing her eyes slightly as she tried to work out what she was missing. There was something odd going on; the atmosphere between the teenagers was decidedly less cheerful than normal. With a shrug, she walked outside, heading straight for Scout, who was standing with Phoenix and Rhiannon.

"Alright?" She asked, nudging the blonde gently with her shoulder. "You ready?"

"Yeah… I think so."

Rhiannon smiled and Hollie instantly tensed, not trusting the younger girl. "_Go on, Scout._"

As she walked away, the brunette watched her carefully, wondering why she was being so nice all of a sudden. But then her attention was focused on the starting line where Scout and Madi were both preparing themselves for the run, looking fiercely determined. Mr Clarkson started the race with an air horn and the runners were off; Hollie cheering as loudly as anyone else.

Once they were out of sight, Hollie and Phoenix turned. The girl realised that Connor and Imogen had vanished and briefly wondered whether they'd even bothered to stick around to watch the start of the race. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried to work out what was going on with them at the moment. Giving up, she made her way towards the canteen with Phoenix, suddenly starving.

With the race still going on, their PE lesson that afternoon had been cancelled, so Hollie and Phoenix were free to wait at the finishing line with the others to see the end of the race. The Havelock High student, Liberty, crossed the line first. Their head teacher was delighted, punching the air and cheering. The teenagers exchanged a look, rolling their eyes, before clapping as Madi appeared through the gates with Scout and Harley not far behind her.

"Nice one!" Hollie grinned, giving Madi a quick hug, before standing back and pulling a face of mock-disgust. "You are disgustingly sweaty…"

"What d'you expect, you weirdo…" The blonde gasped, doubling over as she tried to catch her breath.

A commotion started up a little way off and they watched as Liberty was accused of cheating. Shaking her head, Madi lead the way back into the school, muttering in annoyance.

"_Did you see her face when she was running? She was like… possessed… or something._"

"_Leave it out, Mads._" Gus commanded, sticking up for the other girl. "_She's coughing blood up there._"

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "_Who cares?_"

"_Gus, obviously._" Madi replied, equally irritated.

As Madi moved away to get changed out of her running clothes, the others came to a stop beside Scout and Tariq. Hollie gave her another quick hug and Scout beamed, delighted with her performance in the race.

"_Nice one, Scout._" The red-head congratulated her with a grin. The older girl didn't quite believe her sincerity. "_Me and Phoenix were thinking cinema and chips later, if you fancy it? _You too, Hollie."

"_Err… my mum…_" Scout reminded them. Remembering with a jolt, Hollie wondered whether to say anything.

"_Oh yeah, course._" Rhiannon nodded, looking a little too smug.

"_Are you actually gonna meet her then?_"

"Babe… you don't think this might be… I dunno… a mistake?" Hollie asked gently, wondering how to say it without upsetting her friend. "I mean, does your mum even have your new number?"

"She could have found it out, easy." Scout said, apparently not getting the message.

"_You gonna get her anything… like a getting out present?_" Rhiannon asked, smirking slightly.

The blonde nodded. "_Yeah… yeah, I suppose I should…_"

With a grin, the younger girl walked away. Phoenix followed her, rolling his eyes. Hollie stayed, looked worriedly at her as Scout seemed to be thinking about what was a suitable present in such a situation.

"Don't get your hopes up." Hollie warned as the two girls watched Rhiannon and Phoenix heading away down the road. The brunette had refused to leave Scout to wait on her own, taking up position on the cold stone wall beside her.

"Just 'cos your mum hardly ever showed up, doesn't mean mine won't. You're just jealous."

For a moment, Hollie had the urge to walk away and let her friend wait alone. Bitterly, she wondered whether Scout had a point about her reasoning. Then she shook her head. "It's got nothing to do with my mum. I just don't want you to pin all your hopes on yours turning up and then her not showing."

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No. I just… have a bad feeling about this."

They waited in silence for a while, until a beep caused them both to jump. Pulling out her mobile, Scout stared at the screen for a second, before standing up and showing it to Hollie. The brunette read the message bitterly.

"You were right, then, someone was taking the piss."

"Look, Scout, don't–"

"I bet I can guess exactly who it was, too." The blonde snapped.

Before Hollie could even stand up, she had sprinted away along the road. Knowing that there was no way she'd be able to catch her friend up, the teenager sighed and started following the path Scout had taken at a much slower pace.


	11. Chapter 11

Scout rolled her eyes at her friend, wondering why Hollie was staring absentmindedly at her cocoa pops, pushing them around her bowl thoughtfully. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hollie replied with none of the usual defensiveness she employed for such questions. Then she sighed and dropped the spoon, leaning back in her chair. "It's just... today's my Mum's birthday; October 19th. She'll be thirty-three."

"Oh." For a moment, Scout wasn't sure how to respond to this news. Her friend seemed more subdued than usual on the subject of her mother. The hint of anger that was often in her eyes and tone wasn't present. "Are you gonna send her a card?"

Hollie shook her head. "What's the point? Besides, I don't know her address. I have bought a card, though. There's this... this thing I do. It's really stupid, but every year I buy a card and write it and put a letter inside telling her random things."

"But you never send them?"

She shook her head. "Nah... I've got them all upstairs; right from when I was eleven. We read this book when I was in year 6, about this girl who did it for her dead sister. I can't remember what the book was called, but I liked the idea so it kinda became my tradition. It's stupid, I know."

"Nah," Scout argued, shaking her head firmly, "that's dead sweet. Will you ever give them to her?"

"I dunno... probably not."

"What? Even if she came back and was dead apologetic and stuff?" Scout asked in disbelief.

"I dunno... some of the stuff I wrote... I can't remember most of it, because this will be the seventh one I've done. But it's probably really embarrassing; especially the ones that I wrote when I was a kid." The girl admitted. "I used to get proper soppy on her birthday."

"Used to?" Scout asked, grinning and trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Hollie smiled back and then laughed softly. "You're right. I've been a right moody cow this week. Enough about me; are you alright? I mean, after yesterday and everything?"

"I'm fine." Scout assured her quietly. "Rhiannon Salt better watch her back, though."

"Don't worry; I'll keep an eye on her for you." The brunette promised.

Her friend snorted with laughter. "You? You wouldn't scare a fly!"

"Wanna bet? You ain't seen me angry yet." With a wink, Hollie carried her breakfast over to the bin and dumped the soggy coco pops inside. She put the bowl on the counter and smirked. "Come on, let's go. Mrs Mulgrew's been in a weirder mood than me all week. Let's not risk being late for her lesson."

x-x

The day seemed to drag and Hollie was glad that she had Friday afternoons off. As the bell rang for lunchtime, the brunette made her excuses and left the school alone, heading in the direction of town. She knew that Scout was concerned about her desire to be alone, but put the thought out of her mind. Pulling off her tie and blazer, she pushed them into her school bag, unbuttoning the top few buttons of her shirt.

Pausing outside an off-licence, the sixteen-year-old pushed her school bag into a bush, before opening the door and going inside. Confidently, she headed to the shelf containing the spirits and perused it nonchalantly. Selecting a bottle of vodka, the girl headed to the counter and put it down with a smile. The man at the till looked at her suspiciously for a moment, his eyes roving over her face as he obviously tried to work out her age. With a smile, Hollie kept her cool. Although she had fake ID in her purse, she was relieved when the man scanned the bottle and put it into a bag for her without asking.

"Party?" He inquired with a smile, taking the twenty pound note he was offered and rummaging in the till for change.

"Flat warming." Hollie agreed with a nod. "Cheers…"

Looking much calmer than she felt, the teenager walked slowly from the shop before grabbing her bag and shoving the alcohol inside roughly. She stalked away up the road, passing the school and continuing along the road. A short walk away she knew there was a park and it was there that Hollie headed.

Finding a bench that was slightly out of the way, Hollie reached into her school bag and pulled out a notebook and the bottle of vodka. Taking a swig of the alcohol, she paused with her pen poised over the paper, wondering what to write. It took a while and a few more gulps of the burning liquid before inspiration came, but when it did Hollie couldn't stop writing. Her pen flew across the paper, her writing covering eight sides before she finally came to a stop.

Replacing the cap on the bottle, the teenager noticed that she'd drunk far more than she'd realised and half the bottle was gone. Putting it and the notebook back in her bag, Hollie climbed somewhat unsteadily to her feet, clutching the back of the bench for support as the world seemed to lurch around her. Deep breaths went some way to steadying her, but as she tried to move, the ground rose quickly up to meet her.

Sprawling on the gravel path, Hollie winced in pain. The small stones had grazed the skin on her palms and the knees of her tights were ripped and bloody. Groaning, she pulled herself up onto the bench and stared at her hands, gently tracing the graze on her left hand with the tip of the middle finger on her right hand. Reaching the middle of the tender area, she twisted her finger quickly, plunging her nail into the flesh. Hollie let out a hiss of pain between her clenched teeth. Closing her eyes, the spinning in her head intensified and the teenager knew there was no way she'd make the walk home in one piece.

Reluctantly, she pulled out her mobile, squinting at it as she scrolled through the contact list. Finding Scout's number, she held the handset to her ear and waited.

"Scout? S'Hollie…" She slurred.

There was a soft gasp from the other end of the phone. "Are you drunk?"

"No!"

"You are!" Her friend argued.

"Maybe just a little bit…" Hollie agreed with a giggle. "Can you come and get me?"

"Look… I've just had to leave Chemistry to answer your call… I can't just leave the school!"

For a moment, the line went quiet and Hollie held the phone in front of her face, trying to work out whether they'd been cut off. She squinted at the screen until she heard Scout's voice coming from the speaker.

"Hols? Hol! Are you there?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Look, where exactly are you?" Scout asked. Once Hollie had told her, she sighed. "Don't move and we'll come and get you."

It wasn't until a couple of moments later that she realised her friend had said 'we' not 'I'. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to work out who else Scout might be bringing with her. She was in Chemistry with Connor, so maybe it was him.

Glancing towards the park gates, Hollie's heart sank as she saw who the other person with Scout actually was. Mrs Diamond was heading quickly in her direction, holding her coat tightly around her against the cold. The teacher took one look at the teenager and sighed, reaching out and feeling her hand.

"We're closer to school, so we'll take her there." She told Scout who nodded and picked up Hollie's school bag. "She's freezing. How long's she been out here?"

The blonde shrugged. "She left at the beginning of lunch, but I dunno if she came straight here."

"That's almost two and a half hours." Mrs Diamond sighed. "What's she drunk?"

"I am here, you know…" Hollie muttered, clutching onto her teacher's arm as everything lurched sideways.

"I'd noticed…"

"There's half a litre of vodka in here, Miss." Scout said, rummaging through her friend's bag. "And… oh…"

"Oh?"

"I dunno if I should say." The blonde admitted awkwardly. "It's nothing bad… it's just…"

"What?" Mrs Diamond demanded. Scout pulled the notebook out and held it out towards the woman. She flicked through it, scanning the writing with growing understanding. "Oh."

"It's her mum's birthday, Miss." The teenager said, feeling like she was betraying Hollie. Luckily the brunette didn't seem to be listening. "She was really upset this morning, but then she said she was OK."

"And you think that's why she's done this?"

Scout nodded. "Yeah…"

"Right, let's get her home and let Maggie deal with her. There's no point taking her to school; she'll just get into trouble she doesn't really deserve."


	12. Chapter 12

Maggie put Hollie straight to bed when Scout and Mrs Diamond dropped her off after finding her in the park. On Saturday, all the brunette sixteen-year-old wanted to do was curl up under her duvet and hide from both the light and the rest of the world. The House Mistress was not having that and dragged Hollie out of bed at nine o'clock in the morning. After reading her the riot act, making sure the other teenagers in the house were able to hear the verbal torrent being sent in Hollie's direction, Maggie informed the teenager that she was under house arrest for the foreseeable future and her pocket money would be stopped for the same amount of time.

When that was done, she pulled Hollie into a tight hug and sent her back to bed to sleep off the worst of her hangover. Remembering the conversation she'd had with the girl days before and adding that to the possible reason Scout and Sian had given her for Hollie's state the afternoon before, Maggie decided that treading softly was possibly the best course of action in this situation.

She couldn't get her head around the teenager. Sometimes she thought that Hollie was a sweet kid, possibly too innocent for some of the children she was living and going to school with. The little Maggie knew of her past seemed to back this up; living with her elderly grandparents and taking care of them, running a house from goodness knows how young and still managing to do reasonably well at school. At other times the woman could believe that the complete opposite was true. Sometimes Hollie had a look on her face that was so intense, so broken, that it was frightening. Getting drunk had been completely out of character, or so she had thought. Perhaps it wasn't such unusual behaviour for the teenager after all.

"Morning, Pet." Maggie smiled on Sunday morning when Hollie appeared in the dining room. She was still in her pyjamas, yawning widely. In this state, the teenager who usually could pass for older than she actually was looked like a child. "How're you feeling, eh?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Hollie asked sitting in one of the chairs and leaning her elbows on the table. "Apart from the lecture yesterday, obviously."

The woman shrugged and set a mug of tea in front of her. It was too early for any of the others to make an appearance. "I guessed you were having a tough couple of days."

"You could say that."

"D'you want to talk about it?"

Hollie paused. "Not really."

"I think it might do you good." Maggie persisted, earning herself a scowl. "Look, love, you don't have to deal with everything on your own, you know? I've got a good pair of working ears."

"I just… I get really confused."

"Confused about what?"

Shrugging, the teenager took a sip of tea. She winced as the burning liquid scorched its way down her throat. "Stuff… my mum, I guess."

"What about your mum?"

"You ask a lot of questions. What are you, an undercover copper?" Hollie muttered, staring at her hands. Maggie smiled. "Sometimes I just wonder whether it's my fault that she never wants to see me. I get really upset wondering about stuff. But then at other times I get so angry at her."

"That's understandable." The woman told her, moving their chairs closer together and putting an arm around the teenager. "Of course you'd wonder if you don't have any answers. But it's not your fault; you were just a kid. You don't know what your mum's reasons were. They might not necessarily be what you think they are."

"What? She might have a reason other than not wanting a kid around?"

"Maybe."

"Like what?"

"Well… I don't know." Maggie admitted. "The only way you're going to get the answers you want is by talking to your mum. Do you know how to get hold of her?"

"I've got a phone number." Hollie admitted. She pulled her mobile out of her dressing gown pocket and set it on the table in front of her.

Realising that, if given the chance, the teenager would put it off until she talked herself out of it Maggie smiled. "There's no time like the present."

"Isn't it a bit early?"

"It's half past nine; it's fine. Now phone."

Sighing, Hollie realised that the woman wasn't going to give up until she did as she was told. Picking up her mobile, the teenager scrolled through the contacts until she found the number she was looking for and pressed the 'call' button. Holding it to her ear, she chewed her thumbnail as she waited for it to connect. Excitement and nerves caused her stomach to churn uncomfortably.

"What?" Maggie asked as the teenager's face fell.

"The number's dead." Hollie sighed, putting her phone down in frustration. "It worked two weeks ago. She's always changing her number."

"Bit suspicious?"

Hollie laughed bitterly. "I doubt it. She just moves around a lot I think."

"We could try and look her up?"

"No…" The teenager said. "Not yet; not now."

"Then when, pet. The longer you leave this, the harder it's going to be."

Standing up, Hollie shoved her phone roughly into her pockets and shrugged. "If she wants to find out where I am all she has to do is speak to my Nan."

"And she'd tell her where you are?"

"I dunno… maybe."


	13. Chapter 13

Imogen tried to stifle a laugh at the story Connor was telling them about an incident that had taken place over half term as they went into the English classroom and took their seats at the back of the classroom. Hollie, Scout, Phoenix and the others had spent a couple of days at an activity centre with Maggie and Mr Budgen. Their housemistress had been enthusiastic, encouraging the teenagers to take part in activities they had never tried before, while her new husband had complained about spending his holiday in their company. Maggie rolled her eyes and assured them that he was enjoying himself really.

"That's not possible, surely?" Imogen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is, I assure you." Her boyfriend replied with a grin.

Hollie laughed, sliding into her seat at the table beside theirs and dropping her bag under the table as Scout took the seat beside her. "Shit!" She muttered, hunting in her bag. "I've forgotten my essay. D'you think your Mum will kill me, Con?"

"No way!" He told her, shaking his head. "Her star pupil? She'll let you off no question."

They returned to their conversation, not paying much attention as the classroom door opened and closed and the teacher took her place at her desk. It was only when she cleared her throat and called for attention that any of them looked up.

It was as though someone had poured a bucket load of ice cubes down the back of her shirt or someone had walked over her grave. Hollie could almost feel the blood draining from her face as she glanced up and saw who was taking their lesson. It wasn't Mrs Mulgrew standing in front of the board.

"You alright?" Imogen hissed, spotting the expression on her friend's face.

"Fine." Hollie replied, not moving her gaze away from the person whose presence had affected her so badly.

"Morning, year 12, I hope you all enjoyed your half term?" The teacher said with a smile, looking around the room. Hollie ducked behind the boy sitting in front of her so that she was hidden from view. "My name is Miss Boston. Those of you who are from Rochdale will probably remember me and those of you who aren't soon will."

"What are you doing?" Scout asked in a low voice, spotting that Hollie was ducking out of sight.

"Is there a problem?" Miss Boston called, raising an eyebrow. Imogen shook her head quickly and sent her a weak smile. "Good. Now, we'll start with the register so I can get to know your names."

"Excuse me, Miss," one of the girls near the front asked, "where's Mrs Mulgrew?"

"In the staffroom, I expect." The teacher replied lightly. "Your lessons with Mrs Mulgrew are being shuffled around and I am going to be taking over from Mr Clarkson because, as they say, there's no rest for the wicked and Mr Clarkson has far more demands on his time than I do." She glanced around quickly. "So, the register… please raise your hand when I call your name. Scout Allen… Jessica Baker… Amy Brewer…" She continued down the list, getting closer and closer to Hollie's name. "Thomas Edwards… Hollie… H-Hollie Evans?"

Miss Boston stumbled over the name, her eyes widening as she read it. Reluctantly Hollie raised her hand and looked up. As their eyes met, the sixteen-year-old wondered if she was about to burst into tears. There was a split-second of silence as they looked at each other, which felt like an eternity. Then the teacher seemed to come to her senses and she glanced back down at her list of names.

"Tia Granger…" She continued.

Imogen glanced sideways and narrowed her eyebrows. "What was that about?"

Hollie shrugged. "I dunno…"

"You obviously know her." The Scottish girl pressed in a low voice. "You didn't go to the old Waterloo Road, so it's not that. Did she teach at your old school too?"

"Just leave it!" Hollie ordered, louder than she'd intended.

"Problem, ladies?" Miss Boston asked, her gaze fixed on the girl who'd shouted.

"No, Miss…" They chorused, both dropping their gazes to the books in front of them.

"Good. Right, well, we may as well dive straight in. I think you were asked to re-read _North and South_ by Elizabeth Gaskell over the break? So, let's see what you already know about the novel. Who can tell me a little about the main character?"

x-x

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, Hollie shot out of her seat. She stuffed her things back into her bag and grabbed her blazer from the chair, intending to be the first out of the classroom.

"What is wrong with you?" Connor asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

"Nothing! I just need the toilet before McFall's lesson, alright? You know how stressed out she gets if we're late." The girl lied quickly. "I'll meet you there."

"Hollie? Can I have a quick word, please?" Miss Boston called as the teenager passed her desk.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Hollie had to decide whether to stop or not. Realising that she didn't have a choice, she slowed to a halt and stood beside the desk, exchanging a look with her friends as they passed. Miss Boston smiled at the other students as they filed out, before moving to close the classroom door. Only then did she look at Hollie.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a strange voice.

"I could ask you the same question." The teenager replied coldly. "Last I heard you were in Stockport or Bolton or somewhere round there."

"Rochdale." The teacher corrected. "I was teaching at the old Waterloo Road before it closed down. Then they came up here and, although I was offered a job, I decided to move down south."

"So why are you here now?"

"Tom called me." Spotting the lack of recognition on the teenager's face, she elaborated. "Mr Clarkson. He said they needed an English Teacher."

"Right…"

Miss Boston smiled and perched on the desk. "So? What about you?"

"Social Services put Nan in a home after Granddad died. One of their neighbours had heard about this new school and knew someone running it, so they got me a place here and at the School House. I've been here since almost the beginning of the year. Although why I'd expect you to know that, I don't know."

"Hollie, I…"

"No, it's fine. Why would you know? You're only my mother, after all."

A heavy silence hung in the air between them for a long moment. Both of them wanted to say something to make the situation better, easier, less difficult to deal with. They each wanted to reach out to the other and embrace them in a tight hug. Both wanted to promise that everything would be OK. They wanted to make a new start, to get to know each other better, to work on their relationship.

But neither moved.

"I've got to go to History." Hollie muttered at last, looking at the floor.

"Look, Hols, I…"

"Don't worry, Nikki." The teenager said putting emphasis on her mother's name, her tone laced with hostility. "I won't tell them you're my mother. I'll let you hold on to your air of mystery. I'll just say you knew my Grandparents. Sort of true, isn't it?"

Before the woman could respond, her daughter had stormed out of the classroom and slammed the door behind her. Nikki sat heavily on the edge of the desk, closing her eyes and taking several steadying breaths. When she'd walked through the gates that morning, this situation hadn't even crossed her mind.

She had phoned her mother's house countless times since her father's death, almost every day and never got a response. At first she'd wondered whether something was wrong, but then she'd decided that they probably just didn't want to speak to her. No one had told her about the care home or Hollie changing schools, as though none of it was any of her business.

"Alright, Nikki?" A familiar voice called, opening the classroom door.

Hastily she rubbed her eyes before turning to smile at Tom. "Fine… I'm just finding it a little strange being back at Waterloo Road, that's all, even if it is in a different country."

* * *

_**A/N: Ahh! Surprise! Nikki's back! And she's Hollie's mum! **_

_**Thank you for reading - I hope that means you're enjoying it? Fancy leaving me a review and letting me know? :)**_


	14. Chapter 14

All through History, Hollie avoided meeting Connor's eyes so that he couldn't ask any awkward questions. She knew that as soon as she arrived in the common room at lunchtime Imogen would be on her case, as would Scout and probably everyone else they had spoken to. It would be easier, the teenager decided, to face them at the same time. It also gave her the opportunity to get her story straight in her head.

"Well?" Imogen demanded, right on cue, as soon as Hollie dropped onto one of the chairs in the common room. "Why did that Miss Boston get to you so badly? And why did she want to speak to you?"

Hollie shrugged. "She knew my grandparents. She's never liked me… stupid cow."

They all blinked in surprise at the anger behind her words. It was unlike Hollie to say something like that. After a moment, Connor spoke. "So she's gonna be a nightmare teacher? Worse than my Mum?"

"Probably…"

"Nah, she's alright, Miss Boston." Scout told them. "She was well nice in Rochdale. Proper firm but fair, like."

Imogen glanced between her two friends with their opposing views of their new teacher. "We'll have to see, won't we?"

After a couple of moments Hollie stood up and shifted her bag onto her shoulder. "Listen, guys, I'm not feeling great. I think I'm going to go home."

"This isn't because of Miss Boston, is it?" Connor asked, hitting the nail on the head.

Rolling her eyes, the girl moved towards the door. "Course not. She's barely crossed my mind."

Halfway along the corridor, Hollie heard footsteps and a familiar voice heading in her direction. Glancing around, she spotted an open door and slipped inside, crouching underneath the window and hoping she wouldn't be seen.

"So? Anyone in my year 12 class I should be aware of?" Nikki asked, her voice getting louder as she got closer to the door.

"Not really…" Mrs Mulgrew replied. "My son Connor can be a bit of a handful and sometimes you need to keep an eye on Phoenix Taylor, amongst some of the other boys. But they're a good lot overall."

"What about… Hollie Evans?"

Hollie narrowed her eyes angrily as the Scottish woman laughed and replied. "Hollie? She's my star; top of the class."

"It's just… I thought she had a bit of an attitude this morning."

Mrs Mulgrew laughed again. "Are you sure you're talking about the right girl?"

Their voices faded and Hollie straightened up and poked her head around the door, making sure they had really gone. Seething with anger, she continued along the corridor and down the stairs, heading out of the front doors and away from the school. Instead of turning in the direction of the School House, she turned the other way and sped up. If Nikki Boston was going to make things difficult, then Hollie Evans would repay the favour.

x-x

"Where were you this afternoon then, madam?" Maggie asked as Hollie collected her dinner that evening.

"I wasn't feeling well."

The House Mistress raised an eyebrow. "So you came back here?"

"Mmmm…" The teenager agreed noncommittally.

Hastily she retreated to sit at a table with Scout and Phoenix. They were laughing and flicking peas at each other. Neither took much notice of the girl as she sat down beside them and started pushing her food around her plate with her fork. By the time her friends had finished their meals, she hadn't eaten a mouthful.

"Look… is this still about Boston?" Phoenix asked as they carried their plates to the bin to throw away the leftovers. In Hollie's case, leftovers meant the whole of her dinner.

"Nah… I'm still not feeling great." She lied, sighing. "I've got stuff to finish for tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah… we've got those character profiles to do for Miss Boston." Scout remembered. "Who are you going to do?"

Hollie shrugged. "Margaret."

"Cool… that's what I was thinking." Scout said. She glanced sideways at her friend. "If I do it, can you have a look after?"

Smiling, the brunette nodded. "Course."

x-x

The thought of double English with her mother first thing the next morning was enough to stop Hollie sleeping properly. She hadn't seen her since the beginning of September at her Granddad's funeral and even then she'd barely seen her. Nikki had turned up just as the service was about to start and slipped into one of the back pews, almost unnoticed. After that, at the graveside, she had stood a little way off just staring at the hole in the ground that her father's coffin had been placed into. There were no tears in her eyes as she stared, just a blank expression.

Hollie had attempted to go over to her, but her Nan had tightened her grip on the teenager's arm and kept her at her side. Nikki's eyes had met Hollie's and she'd sent her a small smile, but she hadn't come over. No doubt the look on the woman's mother's face was enough to force her to stay away.

Remembering things like that made Hollie wonder whether it really wasn't Nikki's fault that she had almost never been around. Her grandparents never had a good word to say about her, even when she'd done something nice. The teenager remembered her Nan's 70th birthday. Nikki had turned up with a massive bouquet of flowers, but all her mother could say was that she didn't like carnations. The expression of complete defeat on Nikki's face had almost been enough to make the teenager cry.

But then she remembered all the birthdays and school plays and parents' evenings that her mother had missed and her heart hardened. She could almost forgive the ones Nikki had missed when she'd been off on a tour of duty with the army, but the rest she had no excuse for and Hollie couldn't forgive those.

Lying in the dark, staring at the ceiling, her mind began to drift.

The first Christmas she could remember was when she was about six. Nikki had bought her three Barbie dolls and a Barbie horse. Nan and Granddad hadn't approved – their presents had consisted of a book of illustrated Bible stories and other respectable, practical items – but Hollie hadn't cared. She loved those Barbies and had kept them until she was fifteen when, in a fit of anger, she'd binned them all.

The next Christmas Nikki had bought her a beautiful silver locket, engraved with her name. Inside was a photo of them both, just after Hollie had been born. Nan had said that the locket was too showy for a seven-year-old and put it away for safe-keeping. When Hollie had asked her for it a few years later, her Nan had pretended she wasn't sure where it was, but the teenager knew that she'd sold it to help pay for the adjustments they'd had done in the house when her Granddad got ill.

The next memory that entered her mind was sadder. She was nine-years-old and it was Christmas Eve. Sitting on the window sill of her bedroom, Hollie had stared out at the garden path leading to the front door waiting for her Mum to arrive. Eventually she had given up and gone to bed. When she woke up the next morning neither of her grandparents mentioned their daughter and she never appeared. The old people at Church had given her cards and small amounts of money or bags of sweets, but she didn't want any of them.

The following year Nikki hadn't turned up either. Two years after that, eleven-year-old Hollie was harder and less forgiving. She could see the hurt in her Mum's eyes when she had accepted her Christmas present with a quiet 'thank you' before retreating to a corner of the room and staying there.

Hollie hadn't called her Mum since.

* * *

**_A/N: Thank you to everyone who's reading this! _**

**_Special thank yous to Anastasia Dove, Emmavics, Charmedheart21, MischiefManaged94 and LucyMaxine for your reviews! :D_**


	15. Chapter 15

"You're gonna be late!" Scout called through Hollie's locked door the next morning.

With a jolt, the teenager sat up and looked at the time. They needed to leave in five minutes or they'd be late. Still in her pyjamas, Hollie dragged herself out of bed and unlocked the door, pulling it open. Scout raised an eyebrow, looking her up and down.

"You look awful."

"I feel awful." Hollie agreed.

"Maybe you should stay in bed." Scout suggested. "D'you want me to take any homework in for you?"

Nodding, the brunette walked over to her desk and picked up two plastic wallets. "This is my character profile for Boston and this is my Cold War timeline for Mrs McFall. Can you give this to Steph to give Mr Green? It's my Geography homework. They're probably all crap, but they'll have to do."

Scout nodded and accepted the work. As she left the room, she glanced at the English homework. It was far better than what Scout had produced, even if Hollie had been ill when she'd done it. The blonde was sure her friend would get a B, at least, for this homework and she smiled.

x-x

Nikki nervously drank her morning coffee in the staffroom, almost dreading the double English lesson with her year 12 class. _North and South_ was one of her favourite novels and she usually loved teaching it, but as the bell rang and she made her way to her classroom, Nikki was filled with dread.

She smiled as the class filed in and took their seats. Before she launched into the lesson, Nikki asked them to hand their homework in. There was a general rush as the students made their way up to her desk and piled up their offerings. Nikki smiled as Scout approached.

"Hollie's ill, Miss, but I've got her homework." Scout explained. "She said it's probably crap, 'cos she was feeling proper ill when she did it."

"What's wrong with her?" Nikki asked, trying to sound casual.

Scout shrugged. "I dunno… she looked proper bad, though. She was a weird colour and everything. Like almost grey."

Nodding, Nikki returned her attention to the whole class and started them off, re-reading the third chapter of the novel. While they were occupied, she pulled the homework towards her and started flicking through. Her attention went straight to Hollie's and she read it carefully. She could see why Christine Mulgrew called the teenager her star pupil; Hollie's ability to draw conclusions from reading between the lines was impressive. Nevertheless, Nikki found herself spotting tiny mistakes that she would usually overlook and deliberately finding faults with the work.

She was just writing a large 'C' at the top in red biro, when Imogen raised a hand. "Yes?"

"We've finished."

"Oh…" Nikki glanced around, slightly taken aback. "Right." She stood up and moved around to perch on the front of her desk, picking up her copy of the novel and beginning to read. "_The little drawing-room was looking its best in the streaming light of the morning sun. The middle window in the bow was opened, and clustering roses and the scarlet honeysuckle came peeping round the corner; the small lawn was gorgeous with verbenas and geraniums of all bright colours._" She looked up. "Who thinks they can explain why Gaskell puts so much emphasis on her description of the garden at Helstone?"

The class launched into a discussion about contrasts and comparisons, one of the main themes in the book. Nikki listened, nodding and adding her own comments if and where they were needed. Before she knew it, the break time bell rang and she dismissed the class, after setting their homework. She wouldn't see them again until Monday morning, because Christine would be teaching them in the rest of their English lessons for the week.

As soon as the students had left, Nikki headed in the direction of the staff room, in desperate need of a coffee. As she passed the office, she had a sudden thought and ducked inside. Janeece was nowhere to be seen, so the woman sat in the computer chair and switched on the monitor. Quickly she searched through the information and found what she was looking for, copying Hollie's mobile number into her phone.

x-x

Hollie blinked as her mobile vibrated against the surface of her bedside cabinet. Rolling over, she glanced at the display, not recognising the number. For a moment, she considered ignoring the call, but then she sighed and clicked 'accept'.

"Hello?"

"Hollie? Don't hang up, please." The voice on the other end almost pleaded. The teenager moved the phone away from her ear, her finger moving to the 'end call' button on the screen. "Hollie, please!"

"What?" She snapped.

"Scout said you were ill."

"Yeah."

"What's the matter?"

Hollie frowned. "I'm ill. I dunno… I just don't feel right. Shock, maybe?"

"Look… I'll come round at lunchtime and we can–"

"I won't let you in." The teenager warned.

"We have to talk." Nikki said. "You have to hear me out."

"Why? Why should I?"

"Because… because you do."

The teenager snorted angrily before hanging up. She turned her phone off and put it back on the bedside cabinet. After a moment, Hollie opened the drawer and pushed the device inside, shutting it away firmly. Her head was banging, the ache coming on suddenly. She couldn't get past the idea that maybe she was being too harsh on her mother. Maybe she should have agreed to meet her. Maybe she should have made an effort. But she was hurt by almost seventeen years of feeling abandoned and ignored.

Suddenly, before she changed her mind, she pulled open the drawer and waited impatiently for her mobile to turn back on. Finding her recent contacts, she clicked 'redial' and waited.

"Hollie?" Nikki sounded as though she couldn't believe what her screen had no doubt told her.

"Where?"

"Sorry?"

"Where d'you want to meet?" Hollie asked.

"I thought you were ill?" Her mother reminded her, but the teenager could hear amusement in her tone.

Shrugging, although no one could see her, Hollie swung her legs out of bed. "Not that ill."

"Alright… why don't I come and pick you up and we can go for lunch?" Nikki suggested. There was a long pause. "Or… if it's too soon…"

Hollie shook her head. "No. No, it's fine. I'll be ready at quarter to one."

"Great. See you then."

"Yeah… bye."

Hanging up, Hollie sighed deeply. She couldn't help feeling that her spur of the moment decision had been the right one. Gathering up her things for a shower, she headed out of her room feeling more positive than she had since Nikki Boston walked into the English classroom the morning before.

By half past twelve she was ready, sitting on the front step, despite the fact that it was November and sleeting.

At quarter to one, she glanced at her hands and saw how violently they were shaking; partly because of the cold and partly because of her nerves.

At one o'clock she glanced at her mobile, but there was no message.

At quarter past one Hollie was in the living room, sipping tea and staring at her mobile, willing it to ring. She didn't care that Nikki hadn't arrived yet; she just wanted to hear a reason.

At half past one she was back in bed with her mobile firmly turned off and shut away and her head buried under her pillow as she sobbed.

x-x

"Can this wait?" Nikki snapped as she slipped her coat on as soon as the bell rang for lunchtime at twenty to one.

"I'm afraid it can't, Nikki." Tom said looking serious. "We really need to get to the bottom of the bullying in year nine." He glanced at her curiously. "Have you got somewhere else you need to be or something?"

"Yeah."

"Somewhere important."

"Yes, actually."

"Look, it'll just take ten minutes." He pressed, glancing at his watch.

Growling in frustration, Nikki followed him out of her classroom and in the direction of the cooler. She joined in as he began talking to the students, glancing at her watch every now and then. Ten minutes passed and then half an hour. By the time she was able to leave the room it was twenty past one.

Pulling out her mobile, she selected Hollie's number and called it, holding the phone to her ear. It went straight to answerphone and Nikki squeezed her eyes closed, clenching her free hand into a fist.

"Hollie, I–"

"Problem?" Tom asked, appearing at her side.

Hurriedly Nikki ended the call. "Big problem."

"Anything I can help you with?"

She shook her head. "You've done enough this lunchtime, thanks."

Stalking away down the corridor, she selected 're-dial' and held her mobile to her ear, knowing that Tom was watching her in confusion. Again the call went straight to answerphone and Nikki sighed deeply.

"Hollie, listen, something came up that I really couldn't get out of. I tried my best, I promise. There's no time for me to come over now and I'm guessing you don't want to see me anyway, seeing as your phone's turned off." She sighed again and leant against the wall, resting her head back against a display of year 11 maths work. "But please, please don't think that I… I really wanted to meet you. Maybe we could rearrange for the weekend? Just… give me a ring, OK?"

* * *

**_A/N: The extract Nikki read was from chapter three of 'North and South' by Elizabeth Gaskell. I can't take any credit for it… I was definitely not alive in 1855 when it was written…_**


	16. Chapter 16

Hollie had avoided Nikki for the rest of the week when she'd returned to school on Wednesday morning. She'd listened to her answerphone message over and over again until she could recite it off by heart, but she still wasn't willing to forgive her mother for standing her up again, let alone forget it. Nikki hadn't been where she said she'd be too many times before.

By Monday morning she still hadn't lost the feeling of betrayal, but she knew that pretending to be ill again would just make everyone think that there was something she was hiding. Shoving her books into her bag, Hollie went down to breakfast later than the others; first thing on Monday morning she had a double free and didn't need to be in until eleven.

Maggie had already left and so the teenager had the house to herself. She managed to choke down a piece of toast and mug of tea, before grabbing her things and heading to school. The walk seemed to take less time than usual despite the torrential rain, which had soaked Hollie to the skin before she'd even reached the end of the road. On reflection, the teenager thought that the walk had probably passed so quickly because she didn't particularly want to reach her destination. It was just sod's law.

"Morning." Connor smiled as she joined her friends outside the English classroom. Hollie was sure she resembled a drowned rat with her mascara smeared down her cheeks and her hair plastered to her head. This seemed to be a view that the others were agreeing with as they smirked at her. "Done the essay?"

"Of course. You?" She nodded, hastily trying to sort out her appearance before the teacher arrived.

"Yeah… it's rubbish though."

Pulling Connor's essay out of his hands, Hollie glanced through the introduction. "It's not bad… I never thought of that; the differences in opinion between Mrs Thornton and her daughter…"

As she said the words, the irony of the statement seemed to hit her. She replayed the phrase over and over in her mind until 'differences in opinion between Mrs Thornton and her daughter' became 'differences in opinion between Miss Boston and her daughter'. The differing opinion in their case, however, wasn't over dirty, noisy, industrial revolution mills; it was who was to blame for their almost non-existent relationship.

"Yeah, well, I have to listen to my mother going on about how you're the only one who consistently gets A's." Connor laughed, cutting through her thoughts.

"What can I say, I'm fabulous." Hollie told him and grinned, the smile not meeting her eyes.

"You're not looking fabulous at the moment." Kevin teased, flipping a strand of her hair into her face.

Hollie rolled her eyes and swatted at him. "Shut up!"

As they filed into the classroom and she took her seat beside Scout, butterflies seemed to fill her stomach and she took a deep breath as Nikki walked into the room. Their eyes briefly met, before Hollie busied herself with organising her essay, novel and pens neatly on the desk in front of her. She asked Connor to take her essay up to the front when they were called for, a request echoed by Scout, Imogen and Kevin. Hollie was relieved that hers was not the only extra essay he had handed in.

"Right, year 12," Miss Boston called over the chatter, the sound dying down instantly, "today I want us to discuss the relationships between parent and child in the novel. Who can tell me which characters fit into this category? Yes, Imogen."

"Margaret, Mr Hale and Mrs Hale."

"Of course." The teacher nodded, glancing around the room. "Andrew?"

"John Thornton and his sister and their mother?"

"Would you say there's a difference in the relationship between John and Mrs Thornton and Fanny and Mrs Thornton?" She rolled her eyes at the sniggers that had run around the room at her words. "For goodness sake, you're sixteen and seventeen-years-old. Grow up!" Her students looked suitably chastised and she nodded approvingly. "So, the answer to my question? Hollie?"

The teenager shrugged. "I don't understand the question."

"Do you think that there's a difference in the relationships between Mrs Thornton and her son and Mrs Thornton and her daughter?"

For a moment Hollie didn't answer. Then she leant forwards in her seat, resting her elbows on the desk. "Yeah, there's a big difference. Mrs Thornton is proud of her son, because he's exactly the child she wanted. He runs a business and earns enough money to keep them all comfortable. But she sees Fanny as a waste of space; a hindrance." Opening her novel quickly, she flicked through the pages, scanning the text until she found what she was looking for. "It says, _'the uneasy tenderness of Mrs Thornton's manner to her daughter, the shame with which she thought to hide the poverty of her child in all the grand qualities which she herself possessed unconsciously, and which she set so high a value upon in others – this shame, I say, betrayed the want of a secure resting-place for her affection.' _Gaskell is basically saying that Mrs Thornton is ashamed of her daughter. She doesn't think she's good enough for her. She probably wishes she'd never had her."

At the sixteen-year-old's words, Nikki's eyes widened. An uneasy silence descended on the classroom for a moment. Then the teacher pulled herself together and smiled.

"I wouldn't quite go as far as to say she wishes she'd never had her, Hollie, but yes, you're right; there is definitely evidence to say that Mrs Thornton feels far more affection for her son than her daughter." She nodded and returned to her perch on the desk, taking a steadying breath and composing herself before moving on. "What other parent and child relationships are there in the novel?"

As the discussion continued, Hollie leant back in her chair, doodling in her notebook. She had intended to cause the expression on Nikki's face; shock, devastation and the tiniest hint of anger. But now it seemed like a hollow victory. She knew that they'd been talking about fictional characters, but Nikki's agreement with her assessment of the relationship between Mrs Thornton and her daughter felt far more personal. It was stupid, but she couldn't help it.

"What is with you?" Scout hissed as she was forced to hastily open her friend's novel to the correct page as the class began to read a particular section. "It's like you're on another planet or something."

"Problem?" Miss Boston called.

"No." Scout assured her at exactly the same time as Hollie muttered, "Yeah…"

"Good." The teacher nodded, either ignoring the girl's sarcastic response or not hearing it. "I want you to find evidence in the text to support your ideas about the parent and child relationships in the novel."

"Bloody parent and child relationships." Hollie muttered, slamming her novel down and glaring at her notebook.

"Is that what your bad mood is about?" Scout demanded. "Because we're doing about parents and you haven't got any?"

"Thanks."

"No, though… that's stupid. You're not the only one with a rubbish family."

Hollie sighed, realising her friend was right. "Yeah, sorry…" She shook her head. "I feel like a right idiot now. Sorry, Scout."

"Has your mum been in touch?"

"Not really…"

"Not really?" Scout asked, raising an eyebrow. "What d'you mean not really?"

"Just… She rang me, alright. It wasn't the greatest phone call in the world." Hollie told her with a shrug. Then she sighed. "I just… don't want to talk about it at the moment. Sorry."

"Just… help me do this, right?" Her friend ordered gently, nudging her with her shoulder.

They worked in companionable near-silence until the bell rang and they packed their things away. Shooting Scout a weak smile, Hollie linked arms with Kevin as they left the classroom, heading to History. She rolled her eyes at something he said, pushing him away and rifling through her bag to make sure she had her History essay ready to hand in.

"Hollie, could I have a moment?" Nikki called as they reached the door.

Glancing back, Hollie stared blankly at her for a moment. "Sorry, Miss, I've got to get to my next lesson. I'll come and find you later."

"Alright, off you go." The teacher agreed, both of them knowing that the teenager had no intention of going to find her. 


	17. Chapter 17

"Can I have a quick word with you about Hollie Evans?" Nikki asked quietly at lunchtime, catching Mrs McFall in her classroom. The year 12's left the classroom, the teenager in question glaring suspiciously as she filed out with her classmates. "Sorry, I… have you noticed that she's been a bit… distant… in class?"

"Not really." The older woman shook her head, tidying up her already tidy classroom. "She got an A for the last essay she handed in and she's been her usual self in lessons."

"And that would be…?"

"Quiet, polite, keen to answer."

Nikki nodded, forcing her face into a smile. "Right… thanks. If you notice anything, let me know."

"Although…" Mrs McFall said thoughtfully, causing Nikki to stop and turn back quickly. "There was that incident Sian Diamond told me about. She asked me to keep an eye on Hollie too. Apparently Sian and Scout Allen had to go and get Hollie from a park one afternoon and take her home because she was too drunk to find her own way. I couldn't believe it… Hollie's the last person I'd have expected to do something like that."

Nikki went cold. "When was that? Maybe something's bothering her?"

"Ohh… a couple of weeks ago… the middle of October?" Audrey shook her head. "No, I'm sure it can't be connected to anything bothering her now. I asked Scout Allen what she thought the matter was. She reluctantly told me that day was Hollie's mother's birthday and she was a bit upset. Apparently there's something… strange about their relationship. If you ask me, it seems like the poor girl's had enough to contend with so far to last her whole life."

Smiling weakly and feeling a little sick, Nikki turned and strode quickly from the classroom, rubbing her forehead tiredly. She had known that sorting things out with Hollie would be difficult, an uphill struggle. But she seemed to be taking three steps forward and two steps back. Hearing Audrey McFall commenting on their relationship was something she definitely hadn't needed.

"You alright?" Tom asked, appearing from one of the classrooms that lined the corridor and making her jump. "You look like you could do with a drink!"

"I could do with more than one, I can tell you." Nikki replied, laughing mirthlessly.

"Nikki? What's going on?"

She glanced along the deserted corridor before pushing him into the classroom he'd emerged from and closing the door. She leant against it and took a deep breath, trying to form the words she needed to say to let her friend know what was happening. Tom would probably be annoyed that she hadn't told him straight away and that she'd never even mentioned her, disgusted at the way she'd treated Hollie, concerned for them both.

"You're worrying me now, Nikki."

"Hollie Evans…"

"Is she giving you hassle? You've only been here a week!" Tom asked, jumping to conclusions. "Not that I can imagine Hollie giving anyone hassle. Although there is something about her that doesn't always seem… right…"

"No." Nikki said at once. Then she paused. "Well, yeah, she is… but it's nothing I don't deserve."

"You're really going to have to explain what you're going on about, Nikki, because at the moment you're not making any sense."

"Hollie Evans… she's my daughter, Tom."

"What?"

"Hollie Evans is my daughter." Nikki repeated.

The annoyance she'd predicted was blossoming over Tom's face. "You never said you had a daughter? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I don't deserve to be able to claim her as my daughter… and it was less painful to put her to the back of my mind." The woman admitted, moving away from the door and sinking down to sit on the closest desk.

"I'm sure that's not–" Tom started. He stopped at the expression on her face as she glanced at him. "Everyone has doubts about their skills as a parent. Remember when Josh was ill? Nikki, it was you that convinced me I wasn't the worst parent going."

"It's totally different." She tried to explain. "You've been there for Josh and I have never been there for Hollie. I don't blame her for being angry with me. I didn't even know she was here, for god's sake!"

Tom moved to sit beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Start at the beginning… well, almost the beginning."

Nikki laughed weakly and took a deep breath. "I was sixteen when I had Hollie. My parents wanted me to have an abortion. They were old fashioned and very religious. Dad was 44 when I was born and Mum was 39; I think they'd given up on having kids, so when I was born it was a miracle… except I managed to be the complete opposite of their perfect child. They kicked me out and I went to stay with my Aunt and Uncle. They said I could go back, but only under their terms; I could keep the baby and move out or I could let them bring her up. I was fifteen at the time... I didn't know what to do. I couldn't burden my Aunt and Uncle indefinitely, not that they'd have complained."

"You didn't have much choice." Tom told her, understanding where the story was headed.

"After doing my A Levels I joined the army. Hollie was only two when I joined up and she was twelve when I left. I don't think she realises that I did my best to see her whenever I could. My parents wouldn't let me anywhere near her."

"But you're her mum."

"I know… I went to a lawyer as soon as I left the army, to work out how I could get her back properly. But they convinced me that staying with them was what she wanted. Whenever I visited her she was withdrawn and seemed really suspicious of me; it was the same when my cousin Jo went to see her, even though she'd adored Jo when she was little. I thought I was doing the best for her. I thought she was better off with her grandparents."

At this point, Nikki began to cry. Tom was taken aback, seeing the usually strong woman breaking down. He tightened his grip on her, rubbing small circles on her back. There was no point pushing her to talk; she would carry on when she was ready.

After a moment or two, she sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "She would have been better off with me, I know she would. My parents were in no fit state to look after a child." She hesitated and looked at Tom, her eyes brimming with tears. "You remember how hard I tried to help when Josh was doing drugs?"

Tom nodded. Then his mouth dropped open in disbelief. "You don't mean…? Not Hollie? Although it does explain her behaviour when the police came in before half term... Is she still doing drugs, Nikki?"

"No! At least… I don't think so." The woman paused, unsure. "She was fifteen when I found out she was smoking weed. It was just before I went for the job at Waterloo Road. I... she… one night when she was totally out of it, she fell off the neighbour's wall and broke her arm. The neighbour phoned me to let me know, but when I got there my parents completely denied it and wouldn't let me see her. I couldn't help Hollie so I thought, maybe, helping Josh would make up for it."

"But you did help Josh."

Remembering the conversation they'd had in Tom's living room the night Josh had been taken to hospital, Nikki closed her eyes. She'd told him that he wasn't to know that Josh was ill and that he'd done everything he could to help. She remembered how much it had hurt when she'd told Tom he was a great Dad, knowing the compliment could never be applied to her parenting. She had done her best to dismiss his negative thoughts about his abilities; that Josh had needed him and he hadn't been there. All the time she'd been thinking about Hollie; thinking about how she had never been there when her daughter had needed her. Tom hadn't known where her thoughts were and who they were with that evening and Nikki felt guilty that she hadn't been completely focused on Josh.

"The strange thing was that the neighbour who phoned me, Pam Saunders, is the aunt of Lorraine Donnegan." She informed him, dragging her mind back to the present. "We kept in contact and she updated me on what Hollie was doing for a while. When my Mum was put into the care home, it was Mrs Saunders who arranged for Hollie to get a place here, although I didn't know at the time. I suspected it was her, so I rang last week to ask. She thought I'd come with you lot."

"That must have been a surprise when you walked into the classroom." Tom said dryly. "No one would have made the connection between you and Hollie Evans. With her grandmother being in a home, Maggie is listed as her next of kin. Most kids take their mother's surname in situations like..."

Nikki sighed deeply and looked at her hands, twisting them in her lap. "I don't blame Hollie for hating me… it probably seemed like I didn't care."

Tom put a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. He was about to say something comforting, to reassure her that Hollie didn't hate her. Before he could utter a single syllable, Nikki leant forwards and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was gentle at first, before it grew more insistent, more desperate.

"Hey…" Tom murmured, pulling away from her slightly. His eyes moved over her face, seeing it fall and acute embarrassment flood her features. "No, don't shut me out. Any other time and I wouldn't be stopping you, trust me. But right now I feel like I'm taking advantage."

"You're right." Nikki mumbled, standing up quickly. "I'm sorry, I..."

Taking hold of her wrist, Tom pulled her back down to sit beside him on the table. "Don't be sorry and don't be stupid."

"I just… I wish I could go back and change things… we could have had the last however many years together…"

"And you still can." Tom told her seriously. He grinned. "You can have twenty… thirty… sixty years!"

Nikki laughed, despite herself. "What would I do without you, eh?" 


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, Hollie was far from looking forward to double English first thing with her mother. Scout and Phoenix almost had to drag her along the road to school, where they met Connor, Imogen and Kevin at the gates. Hollie simply listened to their conversation rather than joining in, barely paying any attention to what they were saying. As they made their way towards the front doors, she spotted Mr Clarkson and Miss Boston chatting and laughing. They looked cosy, catching the teenagers' attention.

"D'you reckon there's something going on between Boston and Clarkson?" Connor asked, nodding his head towards them. The woman had just pushed her companion lightly, laughing at something he'd said.

"Well, she is pretty fit." Phoenix shrugged. They all turned to face him with varying expressions on their faces.

"Are you trying to tell us you fancy Miss Boston?" Scout demanded, grinning at him.

Phoenix blushed. "What?"

"I really don't care if there's anything going on between them or not." Hollie muttered, glaring in their direction and trying to ignore what her friend had just admitted.

Kevin slung an arm loosely around her shoulders and grinned. "D'you fancy Clarkson or something?"

"What? No!"

As if she felt Hollie's gaze focused on her, the English teacher turned around and looked at them. Her face fell slightly as she saw her daughter's expression and she said something to Mr Clarkson, before heading inside.

"What exactly is your problem with Miss Boston?" Connor asked, shifting his bag further up his shoulder.

Hollie shrugged. "I just don't like her."

"So you don't actually have a reason?"

"Just leave it, will you?" She snapped, pushing Kevin's arm off her and striding into the school, leaving her friends staring after her.

Almost running through the corridors, the girl wasn't entirely sure where she was going. The only thing whirling through her mind was the thought that she didn't want to be anywhere where she would hear the names Boston or Clarkson. Then she dismissed the thought; what was it to her what Nikki Boston got up to with Mr Clarkson or anyone else. Finding an empty classroom, she pushed open the door and went inside. Hollie walked to the back of the room and sank to the floor, curling up in a ball.

She froze as the door burst open and someone walked in, closely followed by a second pair of feet. Hollie sank down even further, hidden completely from view by the desks and chairs. For a moment neither of the people spoke.

"Did you see the look on her face?" A familiar voice suddenly demanded. Hollie sneaked a peek over the desk and saw Nikki pacing backwards and forwards while Mr Clarkson stood in front of the closed door. "What is wrong with me?"

"Calm down. You don't know why she was upset? Maybe she's had a falling out with her mates?"

"That's part of my point, Tom." Nikki tried to explain. "I should know why she's upset. I'm her mum. I should be telling her that boys aren't worth crying over or that if her mates are being idiots it's their loss, not hers."

"Give her time, Nikki…"

Perching on the edge of her desk, Nikki put her head in her hands. "We've had too much time apart, Tom. We've spent almost her entire life apart. And it's my fault because if I'd been stronger, if I'd stood up to my parents, then we wouldn't have."

Hollie made up her mind to stand up, to move forwards and let them know that she was there and that she had heard what Nikki had said. When she peered over the desk again, however, her mother was partially blocked from her view by Mr Clarkson, but they were obviously kissing.

Anger rose up inside her and she hugged her knees, glaring at the floor just beyond her feet until the bell rang and she heard the teachers hastily leaving the room. As soon as they were gone, she stood up and pushed her bag onto her shoulder. Of all the places she could possibly have found herself, her mother's classroom was not where she'd intended. For a moment she had thought that, for once, she might be hearing the truth from the woman's mouth. But it was obvious that she was saying it for Mr Clarkson's benefit.

x-x

"So, I want you to get into groups and create posters to illustrate the themes in the novel." Miss Boston told the class halfway through their double lesson. "You should use quotes and opinions to make your points. OK? Off you go."

Hollie turned to her friends, listening to them discussing how they were going to create their poster. She looked on as Scout started sketching a figure on their large sheet of paper, before raising her gaze and finding her eyes meeting the teacher's. Nikki smiled as brightly as she could, earning a scowl in return.

"Get your brain working!" Connor murmured, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Get lost…" Hollie retorted.

"You are getting really annoying." Scout told her. "Every single lesson with Miss Boston you turn into a right cow. What is wrong with you?"

"She's right, Hols." Imogen agreed gently. "Every time you walk in this classroom it's like you shut down."

For a moment, Hollie just stared at them, her gaze moving between the three faces looking at her. Then, shaking her head and exhaling angrily, she grabbed her bag off the floor and slammed it onto the desk, stuffing her things into it. She ignored her friends' attempts to stop her, pointedly refusing to take any notice of the teacher's orders for her to stop. Grabbing her blazer off the back of her chair, she dodged past the woman and walked out of the classroom, speeding away down the corridor.

"Hollie!" Nikki shouted, jogging after her. "Hollie, wait!"

The teenager stopped, not because she'd been told to, but because she suddenly didn't know where she was running to. She glanced left and right, trying to make up her mind before her pursuer caught up, but she was too late. Nikki grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty classroom a little way further along the corridor.

"What's the matter?" The woman asked, but Hollie bit the inside of her cheek, refusing to answer. "Talk to me, please? How can I make this right… make it better… if you won't speak to me?"

"I don't think we can make this right." Hollie admitted quietly. "I can't… I don't…"

Nikki put her hands on her daughter's upper arms and bent down slightly so that she was looking her straight in the eyes. "What?"

"What's going on between you and Mr Clarkson?" She asked before she lost her nerve. If she heard the truth then she would do her best to put everything behind her and work things out with her mother.

"We're friends… he's been there for me when I've needed someone to talk to and I've been there for him."

"Nothing else?" Hollie pressed, her heart sinking.

"Nothing else." Nikki repeated.

The teenager shook her head and backed away. "You're lying. I saw you this morning in your classroom. I don't care if you and him are together… it's got nothing to do with me, has it? But you didn't have to lie to me. You've let me down one too many times, Nikki. I… I can't do this anymore."

"What d'you mean?" The older woman asked anxiously.

"I can't be here. My friends were right… every time I walk into your classroom I get really tense. I can't deal with it anymore. I've got to leave."

Nikki shook her head. "Where would you go?"

Hollie shrugged. "I dunno… I ain't got anyone, have I? I'll find somewhere, though, don't worry about me. Not that you would."

"Don't be ridiculous." Her mother snapped. "Of course I worry. And you can't just…"

"Nikki?" The door opened and Tom poked his head into the classroom.

Hollie rolled her eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by her mother. "Give us a minute, Tom. Can you go and check on my class for me?" When he had left, Nikki looked into her daughter's eyes. "Don't leave, alright? I'll sort something. I'll switch classes or… I don't know, yet. I'll quit, if you really want me to. But I'll make it work. All I want is…"

"What?"

"I want my daughter back. I've lost seventeen years with you; I can't lose any more time."

Before she could stop herself, Hollie hugged her. Not risking missing the opportunity, Nikki wrapped her arms tightly around the teenager, stroking her hair gently and trying her best not to scare her off. Hollie closed her eyes, almost feeling dizzy. She couldn't stop tears burning in her eyes, before welling over and soaking into the woman's shirt.

"I missed you." She mumbled, barely audible.

Nikki heard her anyway and smiled against her hair.

* * *

_**A/N: THANK YOU for reading, loves! Thank you as well to Anastasia Dove, elliesimpson, LucyMaxine and PondGirl11 for your reviews! :)**_


	19. Chapter 19

A short while later, Nikki persuaded her daughter to go back to class. She rubbed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. Her friends seemed to realise that she wasn't in the mood for questions and, after a sharp nod from their teacher, they returned to their poster without another word. Hollie watched them, grateful that they hadn't asked her anything. She glanced towards the desk and received a reassuring smile from her mother. For the first time since Nikki had arrived at Waterloo Road, Hollie smiled at her.

"Homework; write me an essay on the relationship between a parent and child of your choice from the novel. I want at least a thousand words." She ordered as the bell rang and her students began packing up. "Off you go!"

"I'll catch you up." Hollie muttered as her friends headed towards the door. They shot her slightly suspicious looks, but nodded and headed out to the freedom of break time.

"Alright?" Nikki asked, glancing up from the pile of posters she was arranging more neatly on her desk and smiled. "You OK now?"

The teenager nodded, making up her mind to tell a white lie. "I was just wondering… if you want… I've got a double free next…"

"I've got year 8 and then year 11." The teacher told her apologetically. "I could ask Mr Budgen to cover one…"

"No, no." Hollie shook her head, clutching her bag tightly, already feeling guilty for intending to skive her double Geography lesson. "It was a silly idea, don't worry."

"I've got nothing this afternoon."

"I've got double History with Mrs McFall…" Hollie said quietly. "It doesn't matter."

Nikki, sensing that the progress they'd made that morning was about to slip away, grabbed her empty coffee mug from the desk and her jacket from the back of her chair and smiled. "Come on, I'll go and see him now."

Almost unable to believe what she was hearing, her daughter's face split into a broad, beaming smile. She followed the teacher from the classroom and along the corridor, where she waited outside as Nikki went in. Her mother explained that she had an urgent appointment that she'd completely forgotten about, so would the other English teacher be willing to cover her next lesson. Of course, she assured him, she would return the favour if the need arose and it would mean so much to her.

A moment or two later, Nikki emerged from the classroom and winked, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder and glancing along the corridor.

"I need to pop into the staffroom, but then we'll go and get a drink somewhere, alright?"

Hollie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She walked beside Nikki to the staffroom and waited outside. Several staff members went in and out while she was waiting; some recognised the quiet sixteen-year-old and wondered why she was there. Hollie Evans was the last person to get herself into enough trouble to merit a trip to the headmaster's office, or even the staff room.

"Alright, Hollie?" Mrs McFall asked pausing with her hand on the staffroom door.

The teenager nodded. "I'm just waiting for Miss Boston. She's going to help me with a section of my essay."

"Good, I was worried you'd got yourself into trouble for a minute." The Scottish woman chuckled to herself at the seeming absurdity of what she'd said. "I'm glad you two have got past whatever barrier there was between you."

"Sorry?" Hollie asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Barrier?"

"Well yes. She asked me whether I thought you'd been distracted… not your usual self."

"Oh…" The teenager forced herself to smile. "Maybe I was having an off day?"

The teacher laughed and patted her arm lightly as she moved into the staffroom. Hollie leant against the wall, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. She didn't have time to brood over what she'd just heard, as the door opened again and Nikki emerged beaming. Putting a hand on the teenager's back, she guided her out of the school and into the teachers' car park.

As they drove towards the town centre, Nikki suddenly had a thought. Glancing in her mirrors, she changed direction and headed away from town. Hollie looked sideways at her questioningly and the woman explained that there would doubtless be lots of students milling around the town centre who would spot them. Something heavy settled in Hollie's chest as she took in the words, wondering why everything had to be a big secret unless Nikki was ashamed of her.

"Here we are." Nikki announced, pulling onto a driveway.

The teenager looked at the house in front of them; not too big, not too small, not to old and not too new. Not too… anything. Slowly she got out of the car and slammed the door. So this was where her mother lived. Hollie wondered whether going inside would help her understand the woman a bit better; give her an insight into how her mind worked.

Inside, the walls were painted a light colour; not quite white, but almost. The furniture was a light wood and all the pictures on the walls were bright. It wasn't what Hollie had been expecting, although she wasn't quite sure what that would have been either. Glancing around as Nikki led her into the large living room she realised that there were very few photos around. One on the mantelpiece caught her attention and she moved to pick it up.

The photo contained a group of laughing people in army uniform. She spotted Nikki straight away, right in the middle, apparently mid-laugh. The woman looked so happy, so carefree that Hollie almost found it painful. Suddenly she found herself wondering how her mother had any right to have been so happy when she had just abandoned her daughter and run off.

"Tea? Coffee?" Nikki called from the kitchen as Hollie slammed the photo frame back down.

"Tea… thanks." She replied, trying to keep her tone level. "Milk, two sugars."

Her examination of the front room continued. There were four framed photos, aside from the one she'd already looked at. The first was of Nikki and her cousin, Jo, obviously not taken too long ago. On the other end of the mantelpiece was a picture of Nikki and Jo as teenagers with two blonde girls she didn't recognise, but assumed were their friends. On a small table in the corner was a photo of Nikki, as a child, sitting on the floor with a large, hairy dog and laughing as it tried to lick her face. But the fourth and final photo in the room was the one that caught Hollie's attention most.

She picked up the frame and carried it over to the sofa, where she sat down and stared at it. The photo had been taken just before her sixteenth birthday, not long after the cast had been removed from when she'd broken her arm falling off a wall. Nikki was smiling at the camera, her arm around Hollie's shoulders. Hollie, although she was smiling, looked incredibly uncomfortable and as though she would rather be anywhere else. Suddenly the teenager felt immensely guilty.

"Here you go." Nikki said brightly, entering the room with two mugs. Her step faltered slightly as she saw the photo in her daughter's hands, but then she recovered herself. "I don't have many photos of you."

"I don't have any of you." Hollie replied, conveniently forgetting about the one in the locked tin in her wardrobe. She had spoken more forcefully than she'd intended. Hastily, she shrugged. "But that's not really your fault, I suppose."

The slight hint of reproach and the obvious truth that Hollie did think it was Nikki's fault hung in the air awkwardly between them for a moment. Then the woman painted a smile on her face and placed the mugs on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She gently took the photo frame out of the teenager's hands and looked at it.

"I always liked this photo."

"Why?" Hollie asked before she could stop herself. "I look as though I can't wait to get away." There was a pause. "Sorry… I…"

"No, no it's fine." Nikki said, but her tone told the teenager that it was far from fine.

"It's not…" She stood up hurriedly and grabbed her jacket. "I thought I could do this… but I don't… I can't… Sorry…"

"Wait, Hollie, please!"

Blocking the teenager's path from the room, Nikki was shocked to see the panic in her eyes. She struggled, but the woman kept hold of her arms, forcing her back to the sofa and gathering her in her arms.

"Talk to me."

"I can't."

"Please?" The look in Nikki's eyes as she pleaded made Hollie falter and the woman took advantage of this momentary weakness.

"I used to tell people that you were some big hero when I was little." Hollie mumbled, rubbing at the tears on her cheeks. "I was the only kid at school who never had anyone turn up to parents' days or parents' evening or plays or sports day… I needed something to stop them realising you didn't care."

"I did care."

"Course…"

"Really, I did."

"I wanted to be just like you until I was about ten. Then I realised the truth; that you were just a massive let down. Auntie Jo was the same… you'd both come and see me for a while and then leave again for months at a time. After I realised that, I did everything to be the complete opposite of you. I tried to make Nan and Granddad proud, because I knew that you hadn't. There must have been a reason why they hated you both so much."

As Hollie talked, Nikki felt as though her words were knives, stabbing her in the heart. She'd known that the teenager probably felt as though she'd been let down, but the woman hadn't realised just how abandoned she'd felt. The true extent of the damage that had been done to Hollie had been kept from her and that was something that she would not be able to forgive her parents for.

"Listen… I'd better phone Tom and tell him where we are. I have a lesson in fifteen minutes, which I'm going to miss, so I need to let them know."

Hollie looked at her angrily. "He knows?"

"He… he caught me off guard." Nikki tried to explain.

"Don't bother phoning in… I've got to go."

This time Nikki wasn't fast enough to stop her. Hollie sprinted out of the house and along the street. Closing her eyes and throwing her head back in frustration Nikki banged her fist into the wall, the feeling that they were getting nowhere almost drowning her. 


	20. Chapter 20

"Grantly said you had an important meeting?" Tom said, making Nikki jump as her year 11 class left the room at lunchtime.

"Important, yes. Meeting, not quite."

"Hollie?"

Nikki nodded, not meeting his eyes. Instead she concentrated on gathering up the books that the class had left on the desks. "It's like trying to get blood out of a stone. We take one step forward and two steps back. She said that she did everything she could to not be like me. I don't know how to…"

"You need to talk."

"That's your answer to everything, isn't it?" Nikki snapped before she could stop herself. "Bad discipline, talk to them. Slipping grades, talk to them."

"It works, Nikki and you know it." Tom reminded her gently. "You're just scared about what Hollie might say." She didn't reply, knowing that he was right. "How did your conversation end?"

"I said I needed to phone you to let you know I'd be missing my lesson and she freaked out and stormed off. I think it was because she knows I told you that she was my daughter." Nikki explained. Tom nodded slowly. "What?"

"You're not going to like this, but I've seen similar reactions before."

"What d'you mean?"

He sighed and moved to stand in front of her. "I think Hollie might have abandonment issues. I've seen it before when parents split up or one dies and the kid has trouble adjusting."

"No…"

"It's hard to get your head around, I know… but find out more about it and then see what you think." Tom urged her. "You helped me realise that Josh needed help and now it's my turn to repay the favour."

Nikki was about to reply, when there was a knock on the door and Michael poked his head into the classroom. "Tom? Can I borrow you for a moment?"

Once her two colleagues had left, the woman moved to the laptop on her desk and opened up an internet window. She stared at the search engine for a moment, wondering whether or not to type in the words that were going round and round in her mind. Closing her eyes, Nikki took a breath and began to type.

As the results appeared, about 1,630,000 results in 0.11 seconds, Nikki exhaled sharply, moving the curser and clicking on the first webpage. She scanned it quickly, before a sense of panic gripped her and she closed down the page. Glancing down at her hands, she realised that they were shaking and ran them through her hair in an attempt to calm herself down. Then she opened the page up again and searched the same two words.

'**Parents who leave their children, whether with or without good reason, can cause psychological damage to the child. This damage is reversible, but only with appropriate assistance. … Symptoms may be physical or mental and may extend into adulthood and perhaps throughout a person's life: ****alienation from the environment - withdrawal from social activities, resistance towards others… guilt****- the child believes that he/she did something wrong that caused the abandonment (often associated with depression)… fear and uncertainty – 'clinginess', insecurities****… ****sleep****and eating disorders - malnutrition, starvation, disturbed sleep,****nightmares****… ****physical ailments - fatigue, depression, lack of energy and creativity, anger, grief.****'**

Nikki shook her head, unwilling to admit that some of what she'd just read might apply to her daughter. Pressing back on the browser, she clicked the next link displayed by the search engine and read quickly.

'**Children who have experienced parental abandonment may also be prone to developing poor self-esteem and a sense of shame surrounding the parent's absence. They may even question whether they could have contributed to the absence, whether they somehow "deserved" to be abandoned, or whether the absent parent believes he or she is better off without the "burden" of a child.'**

Reading the words, Nikki remembered what Hollie had told her_: 'I was the only kid at school who never had anyone turn up to parents' days or parents' evening or plays or sports day… I needed something to stop them realising you didn't care.'_ Then she remembered her response to the question she'd asked her in class about Mrs Thornton's relationship with her daughter the morning before: '_She doesn't think she's good enough for her. She probably wishes she'd never had her._'

Did Hollie honestly think that was what she thought? Did the teenager think that Nikki hadn't wanted her, hadn't cared? Rather than dwelling on the realisations that were beginning to dawn on her, the woman returned to the list of results and chose another webpage.

'**By the time the child becomes a teenager with the ability to understand that mum and dad are NOT the perfect god-like creatures they once thought, the neural networks of shame and defectiveness are already firmly established. A network of hostility toward one or both parents begins to form. This sets up an internal conflict between networks – or 'parts of self' – such as a network of how to be a good son or daughter which applies guilt for feeling that way towards mum and/or dad…'**

"Jesus…" She muttered, reading the passage for a second time.

Hollie had told her that she'd wanted to be like her until she was about ten, when she'd realised that being like Nikki was not going to get her anywhere. That fitted in with what the website was telling her and the hostility that was apparent behind Hollie's eyes must stem from that. Nikki realised suddenly that the teenager had never mentioned her father. All her pain and anger was focused squarely on her mother's shoulders.

Her attention was caught by the next section of text on the webpage, under the title, 'Internalizers and Externalizers'.

'**The energy can be directed inward in the form of self-contempt… or outward as contempt for people, society, authority figures, the opposite sex, God or whoever is available – the man on the street. If we have a tendency to point the contempt inward we are internalizing it. If we are more likely to turn it outward towards others we are externalizing the contempt.'**

Here, Nikki paused. She wasn't sure which path Hollie had chosen. She had a sneaking suspicion that the sixteen-year-old might internalise her contempt – there was no evidence that she directed it at anyone else. And it would explain why she was so quiet and withdrawn most of the time.

'_**The self-talk of an Internalizer is all about the defectiveness of self and fears of abandonment. This leads to inappropriate guilt and more shame – which in turn makes the emotional infection worse. … People who are primarily Internalizers have problems with: depression, other-centeredness, care-taking and approval-seeking, lack of adequate boundaries, have difficulty saying 'no' for fear of abandonment and a lack of sense of personal power.'**_

The more she read, the more things made sense to the woman. Hollie's desire to do well at school, her admission that she'd tried to make her grandparents proud, what she'd heard from other teachers that Hollie could always be relied on to help with anything… it all fitted with the profile of an Internaliser. Nikki knew that she had to do something to help her daughter, but she wasn't sure what. It was clear to her, now, that Hollie's behaviour was down to abandonment issues.

Tom had been right.

'_**Fear of abandonment can be treated with therapy, as long as the individual suffering from the fear of abandonment is willing to use the therapist as a pillar to lean against while learning to be self-sufficient. Of course, an individual cannot get help for fear of abandonment without knowing the symptoms of this mental disorder.'**_

Standing up Nikki grabbed her jacket, heading quickly out of her classroom and along the corridor.

* * *

_**A/N: The information I found on abandonment issues came from several different websites, but I can't put links, so send me a message if you're interested in where it came from.**_


	21. Chapter 21

Hollie didn't return to school that afternoon, missing both her Geography and History lessons. Mrs McFall was concerned after seeing her earlier that day looking fit and healthy outside the staff room and, remembering what the teenager had said, went in search of Miss Boston to see if she could shed any light on the matter. Her classroom was empty and the lights were off, but the laptop on her desk was still running.

Curiously, the History teacher moved behind the desk, glancing at the screen. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she read the title of the page that was open. Closing the lid and wondering why her colleague was looking into abandonment issues, Mrs McFall left the room, closing the door behind her and making her way through the corridors past the crowds of teenagers heading home.

"Ah, Tom." She said, spotting the man walking out of his classroom with his son. "You haven't seen Nikki around, have you?"

"Not since lunchtime, why?"

"Hollie Evans didn't turn up to my lesson this afternoon and, according to Mr Green, she didn't go to his either. It's most unlike her to skip lessons." She explained with a small smile and a shrug. "I saw her at break time waiting for Nikki outside the staffroom."

"Really?" Tom furrowed his eyebrows. "Why? I didn't think they got on."

"Apparently she was going to help Hollie with an essay. But if you haven't seen her, I won't keep you."

As she walked away to continue her search, Tom gazed after her, wondering what was going on. Josh nudged his arm and he started walking along the corridor, almost on autopilot. As they put their things into the back of the car, Tom noticed that Nikki's car wasn't in its usual spot. Glancing around, he realised that it wasn't there at all.

"What's going on?" Josh asked suddenly, making his father jump and whip round to face him, almost guiltily.

"What?"

"Is something up with Nikki?"

Tom shrugged and reached over to plug his seat belt in. "Not that I know of."

On the drive home, his mind was turning over the possible causes for Nikki's disappearing act, not to mention Hollie's truancy. He wondered briefly if they were together, but after his short conversation with Nikki at lunchtime, he ruled this theory out. Perhaps Nikki had found out that her daughter hadn't returned to school and gone looking for her. But somehow that didn't seem to be the right answer either.

"Dad?"

"Sorry, mate." Tom apologised, locking the car and hurriedly following Josh to the front door, both of them doing their best to shield themselves from the heavy rain. He unlocked it and stood aside for the teenager to go in. "Bit distracted, that's all."

"Nikki?"

"Mmm…" He murmured. Then he shook his head. "No. Hollie Evans in the year below you; what do you know about her?"

Josh looked thoughtful for a moment. "She's nice… quiet though. I don't really know her _that_ well."

"You haven't heard that she's having problems… being bullied or anything?"

"Nah… everyone likes her." Josh shrugged and then he grinned. "Except Nikki, apparently."

"Eh?"

The teenager shrugged as he started heading upstairs. "Imogen was saying the other day that Hollie gets much lower marks from Nikki than she does from Mrs Mulgrew."

Tom thought about what Josh had said as his son disappeared into his bedroom. He pulled out his mobile and called Nikki's number, wondering where she could have got to. The call went straight to answerphone, which worried him slightly. In an attempt to distract himself Tom moved into the kitchen and dumped a pile of year 10 essays on the table.

x-x

"Miss Boston?" A tall, well-dressed woman appeared through a doorway and looked around the waiting room.

Nikki gathered up her things and smiled, walking purposefully towards the woman and following her through the door. She took the seat the woman motioned for her to sit in in front of the desk and glanced around nervously. The office was incredibly neat, not a single object out of place. It was in Nikki's nature, not to mention her military background, to be tidy but this was something else. Not a single object was out of place, although the designer had obviously gone for rather a minimalist approach anyway.

"So, what is it we're here to talk about?" The woman asked, looking up from her notebook.

"My daughter." Nikki replied quickly. "I think she's got abandonment issues and I need to know how I can help her."

"Why would you think that?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, she shook her head. "Can't you just tell me how I can help Hollie?"

"Before you can help your daughter, you need to start understanding your role in her problems." The psychiatrist told her. "How do you feel knowing that your daughter feels abandoned?"

Suddenly irritated, Nikki stood up. "I don't think this was such a good idea."

Before the woman behind the desk could stop her, Nikki had left the office and made her way quickly through the building. Outside, she took a deep breath, only pausing for a moment before getting into her car. She had made an emergency appointment in order to ask how she could help reassure Hollie that she wasn't going to let her down again. Nikki hadn't been prepared to be asked about her own feelings.

Turning her mobile on, she realised she had a missed call from Tom. Clicking re-dial, she held the phone to her ear and waited for him to answer.

"Nikki?"

"Hi, Tom. What's up?"

"Nothing?" He sounded confused at her question.

"Oh… you rang me, so…"

"I was wondering if you were alright." He explained. "Audrey McFall asked if I knew where you were after school and I realised you'd already left. Apparently Hollie didn't turn up to her History lesson this afternoon and skipped her double Geography lesson after break."

"What?" Nikki furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you sure? She told me she had a double free."

"She's not with you, then?"

"No…"

"Right, come over to mine and we'll go up the School House and make sure she's back there." Tom suggested.

Nikki couldn't quite process what he was saying for a moment. "How would we explain that away? What reason would we possibly have for going there?"

"Josh could need to borrow something from Tariq… or I could need to ask Grantly's advice on one of my essays. It's a new one, but it might work."

With a sigh, Nikki agreed and hung up, turning her car in the direction of Tom's house. She knew the drive well and was soon pulling up in a parking space outside. Aiming the fob over her shoulder, she locked her car as she hurried up the path. No sooner had the woman rung the bell than Tom was opening the door with his jacket clasped in his hand.

"Alright?" He asked and she nodded, following him to his car and getting into the passenger side.

Neither of them spoke until Tom turned his car into the driveway of the School House and came to a halt beside the front door. Getting out, they both tried to act as casually as they could. Nikki moved towards the door, reaching it slightly before her colleague because her strides were longer. They waited impatiently for someone to answer, sheltering from the rain as best they could.

"Alright, I'm going!" An irritated voice shouted on the other side of the glass, before the door opened and Scout stood in the hallway. She looked surprised to see the two drenched English teachers on the doorstep. "Alright, Miss, Sir?"

"Hi, Scout." Nikki said with a warm smile. "Is Mr Budgen around?"

"Yeah… come in." She stood aside as the teachers walked past her along the hallway.

As Nikki and Tom went into the dining room at the end of the corridor, shaking their coats free of excess raindrops, they heard Scout muttering to Phoenix that living with Budgen was weird enough but having other teachers dropping in was just plain freaky. Neither of them could hide the smirks that forced themselves onto their faces at the girl's words.

"And to what do we owe this pleasure?" Grantly asked in his usual sarcastic tones as they headed towards his table.

"I wanted to ask your opinion on this essay." Tom told him quickly, shrugging off his jacket and sitting beside him at the table and putting the sheets of paper on the surface.

As they started discussing the literary effort, Nikki leant against the counter that ran along one wall of the room and smiled at Maggie. "Audrey McFall mentioned that Hollie Evans didn't turn up to any of her lessons after break or lunch. Is something wrong?"

"That doesn't sound like our Hols…" The House Mistress murmured, looking concerned. "She's upstairs in her room, I think. Maybe I should have a word with her."

"I'll go… if that's alright?" Nikki said, realising she should probably check the woman didn't mind. "I need to ask her about the last essay she handed in anyway. I might as well do both at the same time."

Maggie shrugged. "Go ahead. Second floor, third door on the right; you won't be able to miss it."


	22. Chapter 22

Nikki followed Maggie's directions and found herself standing outside a door with a large nameplate that read 'Hollie's room, keep out'. Taking a breath, she knocked firmly on the wooden panel, before entering.

The teenager glanced up from the books that were open on her desk. When she realised who had entered the room, her face fell slightly and she stood up quickly. If her mother wasn't mistaken, the sixteen-year-old seemed nervous of her presence. As though checking whether everything was in its proper place, her eyes swept the room hastily. Nikki's gaze followed hers and she was surprised at how little there was in it.

There were a couple of photos blu-tacked on the wall above her bed; all photos that had obviously been taken since the teenager started at Waterloo Road judging from the familiar faces displayed there. What was strikingly obvious was that there were no photos, no reminders, nothing at all to link her to her family or her life before she'd come here. That realisation made Nikki unbelievably sad, because it forced her to admit that her past was obviously something Hollie was trying to leave behind.

"Hi." She said softly, moving into the room and closing the door.

"Hello."

"Apparently you didn't turn up to your lesson this afternoon. And, apparently, you lied to me about having a double free after break."

Hollie raised an eyebrow, covering her discomfort over being caught out. "Checking up on me? That's a first."

Remembering what she'd read about teenagers suffering from abandonment issues being hostile towards their parents, Nikki didn't respond. Instead she moved to sit on the bed, reaching out and picking up the threadbare teddy that was partially hidden underneath the covers. She smiled, stroking its nose gently.

"I bought you this when you were five. I'd missed your first day of school because I was away." She said, almost dreamily. Hollie stood and watched her, leaning against her desk with her head tilted slightly. This was the first time she'd ever heard her mother talking like this; talking about something that actually mattered to her. Hollie had almost begun to think that Nikki didn't have many emotions where she was concerned. "When I got back from one of the tours, I went straight to your grandparents' house and I only stopped once on the way; to buy this."

"I don't remember." The teenager replied with a small shrug.

Nikki smiled at her. "No, you were so little. You were in bed when I got there. Your Nan let me in, reluctantly, and I went into your room and tucked this little bear in beside you. You looked so cute with your beautiful curls and your bright pink Forever Friends nightie. I just sat and watched you for a bit. I never wanted the moment to end. But then you woke up and I honestly thought you were going to cry at first. I was terrified you wouldn't recognise me. But you just smiled and said you knew I'd come back."

At her words, Hollie thought she could remember the moment, but she just shrugged and kept her face as blank as she could. "Cool."

Clenching her hand into a fist, Nikki forced herself not to be upset by her daughter's coldness. "What are you doing?" She asked brightly after a minute or two, moving to look at the work on Hollie's desk.

"The essay you set us this morning."

"Which characters did you chose?" Nikki asked, thinking that she probably knew the answer.

"Mrs Thornton and Fanny." Hollie said, looking defiantly at her, proving her mother right.

"I'll be interested to read it."

There was a long, awkward pause and then Hollie cleared her throat. "Well… if there's nothing else?"

"I thought we were getting somewhere, Hollie." Nikki admitted. "This morning, I thought we were starting to move on."

"We were." The teenager agreed with a shrug, wrapping her arms tightly around her body, as though it was a way of protecting herself.

"So what happened?"

Before Hollie could answer, there was a light tap on the door and, for the second time in one day, Tom interrupted a moment between them and poked his head into the room. Sending Nikki a meaningful look, Hollie sat at her desk and returned to making notes for her essay.

Nikki seemed to be trying to catch her attention, but the teenager kept her gaze firmly on her work. With a sigh, her mother stood up and smoothed the bedcovers neatly, following Tom from the bedroom. Hollie waited until the door was closed, before dropping her biro and putting her head in her hands, biting her lip and feeling tears spring to her eyes.

It wasn't that the teenager didn't want to build a relationship with her mother, she just didn't know how. She was scared that, if she let Nikki get close, she would just hurt her again. It seemed easier to just push her away. Everything she had ever believed was called into question. Her grandparents had always made things out to be her mum's fault; Nikki had cancelled their plans, Nikki had had to rearrange, Nikki couldn't make it, Nikki wasn't coming. Hollie hadn't had any reason to doubt what they told her. She knew they didn't particularly like her mother, but the teenager had always told herself that their dislike was because of how unreliable she was and how she'd just left her behind to live with them.

Now Hollie was starting to realise that maybe she'd been wrong all along.

"Hols, can you help me?" Scout called a while later, barging into her bedroom without knocking. "I don't have a clue about this essay for Mulgrew…"

"It's due in tomorrow! Which title did you go for?" The girl asked, turning in her chair and facing her friend, glad to be distracted.

"The one about Duffy being entirely hostile to men." Scout said, dropping onto the bed and resting her chin on her arms. With a slight twinge in the region of her chest, Hollie realised that her friend was sitting in the exact spot that her mother had not long vacated.

"Same as me." She told her with a grin, turning away and hunting through a pile of papers. Finding what she was looking for, she handed it to the blonde girl. "Have my notes."

"You're the best, you are."

Hollie laughed. "Cheers, babe. Right, I made notes on a few of the poems, but I only wrote about '_Queen Kong_', '_Mrs Quasimodo_' and '_Little Red Cap_', so you might want to use some of the others so Mrs Mulgrew doesn't suspect anything."

"Alright…" Scout agreed with a nod, looking through the A4 page of scribbled notes. "Maybe using your notes I'll manage to get better than a C."

"Listen… have you thought about the essay Boston set us for Tuesday? The one about parent and child relationships? Which characters are you going to do?"

The blonde girl laughed and shook her head. "I'll think about that essay at the weekend, maybe Monday."

"This is gonna sound really weird…" Hollie started, an idea forming in her mind. It had been Scout saying about Hollie's notes helping her to get a higher mark that had made her think of it. "Would you mind if I wrote your essay for you?"

"What?" Scout screwed up her face in disbelief. "Why would you want to write two essays?"

Hollie shrugged. "I just want to know whether she really has got it in for me. If I write two essays at the same standard, but hand one in under your name and one in under mine and we get very different marks, then she has to be picking on me, right?"

"Hol! You have to get over whatever it is that's made you not like Boston. Maggie said she came to see you were alright after you skived today. You're just being mental."

"Fine… let me try this and if I'm just being mental I'll lay off, yeah? I promise."

With a sigh, Scout nodded. "Alright, alright. At least I won't have to write the essay I suppose."

She left the room, shaking her head and taking her sheet of essay notes with her. Turning back to the notes she had already started making, Hollie smiled in satisfaction. She would be able to prove once and for all that… that what? Suddenly she wasn't so sure. Maybe her last homework had just been below her usual standard. What reason did Nikki have to mark her harshly, especially if she was telling the truth about wanting to sort their relationship out?

But the idea had taken hold in her mind and Hollie was determined to follow it through. Glancing at the time, she saw that there was still an half an hour until dinner. Opening the novel, she started finding evidence to back up her statements about Mrs Thornton and Fanny.

* * *

_**A/N: The poems mentioned ('Queen Kong', 'Mrs Quasimodo' and 'Little Red Cap') are from The World's Wife by Carol Anne Duffy. I studied them at AS Level and wanted to burn my eyes afterwards. Just my opinion, though! ;) **_


	23. Chapter 23

Before the last lesson on the next Wednesday afternoon, the year 12 English class had lined up outside Mrs Mulgrew's classroom as usual. It was not, however, the Scottish woman who opened the door and ushered them inside. Instead, Miss Boston explained that Mrs Mulgrew had gone home with a headache, so they'd swapped lessons. She pulled out a pile of papers, thinking she may as well hand back the essays they'd given in the day before on the relationship between parents and children in North and South before they got started.

Hollie sat at her desk staring blankly ahead as Miss Boston moved between them. The woman didn't say anything as she dropped Hollie's in front of her, moving away to continue with her task. The teenager glanced at the mark written on the front of her work and exhaled sharply, sweeping the papers carelessly into her bag. Glancing sideways at the essay that had been dropped in front of Scout, she clenched her jaw in annoyance at the large 'B+' scrawled in the top corner. There really wasn't much difference between the essays in her opinion.

"What did you get?" Imogen asked, leaning across the gap between their desks.

"Another D. You?"

"B. D, though? You never get less than a B from Mrs Mulgrew!"

Hollie shrugged, clenching her jaw and glaring at the front of the classroom. "Boston hates me, doesn't she? Scout got a B+, though."

"Nice one!" The Scottish girl said with a grin.

Scout returned the look, before leaning towards Hollie and whispering in her ear. "Maybe you've got a point."

Imogen didn't look entirely convinced by her friend's explanation as to why there was such a difference in the grades between the teenagers' essays. She wondered for a moment whether it was simply that Hollie was doing deliberately badly in Miss Boston's homework, because she didn't like her. Her attention was commanded, however, by the teacher as she perched on the front of her desk and began talking about the themes in _North and South_ and Imogen forgot all about Hollie's marks.

Hollie tuned out. The more she thought about the large, red letter on the front of her work, the angrier she got. It was unfair. She had written both her essay and Scout's and she knew that there wasn't that much difference between them; not the difference between a 'D' and a 'B+' anyway.

For a moment, she didn't realise that the entire class were looking at her. Her mother's arms were folded over her chest and she was looking at her impatiently.

"What?" Hollie snapped.

A snigger ran around the class, silenced by one look from their teacher.

"Up here now." Nikki ordered, pointing at the space beside her. "As you obviously don't feel this lesson applies to you while you're sitting back there, perhaps it will seem more relevant to you at close range."

Rolling her eyes, the teenager stood up pushing the chair roughly and stamping towards the teacher. She folded her arms and glared at her.

"I don't know what your problem is–"

"Oh, don't you?" Hollie asked angrily. "Then you're a bigger bitch than I thought."

A gasp ran around the classroom at her words, before an uneasy silence fell. No one was quite sure what was happening as the two women glared furiously at each other.

"Apologise. Now." The teacher ordered coldly, grief creeping into her eyes.

"Only if you do."

"I have nothing to apologise for."

Before anyone realised what was happening, Hollie had raised her hand and slapped the teacher firmly across the face. The sound cut through the stunned silence like the crack of a whip. Raising her hand to her cheek, the teacher blinked several times, shock spreading over her face.

"Cooler." She ordered in a controlled voice. "The rest of you spend the last ten minutes before the end of the day re-reading chapter twelve and thinking about the question on the board."

Hollie was out of the classroom before she'd finished speaking, slamming the door behind her so forcefully that the glass rattled. Nikki wrenched it open and followed her down the corridor. When she caught up with the teenager, she grasped her arm firmly. Trying to shake her off, Hollie glared at her, seeing the red mark on the woman's cheek growing more vivid by the second.

Unceremoniously, Nikki pushed her daughter through the door into the cooler and faced her, arms folded and a furious scowl on her face.

"Don't you dare act like that in front of my class ever again, understand?" She snapped. "This is a suspension offence, at the very least. I could have you out of here like that."

"Go on, then; do it." Hollie challenged, equally angry. "Just pretend that I'm nothing to do with you. Convince yourself that I'm just another of your problem students. You do realise that all this is your fault, don't you?" Nikki said nothing, staring at the irate teenager. "I've always known you didn't want me. Apparently you don't even want me in your class… in your school."

"That's not–"

"Not what? Not fair? Don't you even try to talk to me about what's not fair. What's not fair is being left with your grandparents because your own mother can't be arsed to look after you. You were stupid enough to get yourself knocked up and didn't have the guts to get rid of me, but you didn't want to deal with the consequences." Hollie ranted, finally taking the chance to let everything she'd bottled up inside out. She knew that her last comment was horrible, but she was angry and hurt. "What? Did you think it was enough to visit me a couple of times a year and bring me expensive presents? I can't be bought, Nikki. Or should I call you Miss? Remove all the familiarity altogether?"

"I don't want–"

"I don't give a stuff what you want at the moment." The teenager continued, angry tears spilling down her cheeks. "_I_ want to talk and I want _you_ to listen."

With a sigh, Nikki held up her hands and seated herself on one of the desks. Hollie nodded in satisfaction and started to pace across the floor, getting everything off her chest. Every now and then she punctuated her words by jabbing a finger in her mother's direction. The older woman just sat and listened to her daughter's tirade, wondering when she would run out of steam.

"Do you have any idea what my life has been like? Granddad was 77 when he died in September and Nan's 72. I don't suppose you realise how much they need doing for them? They could hardly do anything around the house. I spent most of my time cooking and cleaning and running errands. And they were never grateful. Not once. I was a burden, even though I did practically everything. It was all because of you; because you couldn't be bothered to look after me. You dumped me on them and buggered off to join the army."

Sliding off the desk, Nikki reached out a hand to the teenager. "Hols…"

"Don't!" Hollie snapped furiously. "Don't call me that. _You_ don't get to call me Hols. But when I got sent here… when I got over the shock of being somewhere new, I actually thought it might be good; a new start. I could finally be a proper teenager without having to worry about whether Nan had taken her tablets or how I was going to get out of school to take Granddad to his oncologist appointments. I could get away from everything I'd had to do to survive. And then you showed up and ruined everything!"

"How have I ruined everything?" Nikki asked, ignoring her daughter's scowl. "You're the one who's acting like I'm the devil." She held up her hands. "And I'm not blaming you for that. Maybe I deserve it. But I have tried to repair things between us. I'm trying to make it up to you. You have no idea–"

"Course I don't. Because I'm just a kid, right? I don't understand how hard it was for you when you realised you were pregnant and I don't understand the choices you had to make. I don't know what it took for you to decide to join the army. I don't realise how much it hurt being separated from your child." Hollie sneered. "Give it a rest, Nikki. You've been out of the army since I was twelve. Why haven't you… you never… that was almost five years ago."

"I tried." The woman mumbled.

Glaring, Hollie shrugged. "You should have tried harder."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you guys for reading this! And special thanks to LucyMaxine and Anastasia Dove for your reviews :D **_

_**Two chapters in 2 days? I know! The reason is that I'm borrowing a social life for a couple of days... don't worry, it'll be returned to its rightful owner by Wednesday and I'll be back in hermit mode with 2 gerbils and 3 goldfish for company once more! :P**_

**_Hope you enjoy this chapter! :)_**

**_B x_**


	24. Chapter 24

"Maybe you're right, maybe I should have tried harder." Nikki agreed quietly with a small nod. "But your grandparents…" She broke off. "You could have tried not to wind them up so much."

Hollie's mouth dropped open and, for a moment, her mother thought she was going to throw a chair at her. Instead, she gripped the back of it so tightly that her knuckles went white. "What?"

"You lived with them; you knew they were old fashioned and religious. Surely you could have worked out the easiest way for a quiet life was to appear to go along with their opinions."

"Are you serious? You were never there! You don't know what I did!"

"How many anti-war protests have you been on now?" Nikki demanded, her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing angrily.

"Almost as many as the number of years you spent at war." Hollie spat back.

Nikki shook her head. "It was my job, Hollie."

"Yeah? And I was your daughter."

"_Are_ my daughter." Her mother corrected her, stressing the single world she had changed in repeating her sentence.

"Really?"

"Yes." Nikki nodded, taking a hesitant step forward and reaching out to the teenager. Hollie flinched slightly and the woman reluctantly lowered the hand that had been heading to rest on her daughter's cheek. "You _are_ my daughter, you silly girl. It's my turn to speak now so you'd better listen." She ordered. Hollie made a low growl in her throat, but Nikki knew she was doing as she had been asked. "Do you really think it was my decision to leave you with my parents? They didn't even tell me they'd moved. I was away fighting… doing my job… and they just took you. It took me ages to track you down when I got home. And then they moved to London without a word of warning. Do you really think I wanted to be separated from you, to see you two or three times a year and only when they said it was alright? When I was away I wrote to you every single week; more sometimes."

"I didn't get any letters..." Hollie said quietly, all her anger suddenly draining away. Releasing all her bottled up emotions had made her incredibly tired.

"I didn't send them. Well, I sent some on my first tour when you were four. But when I got home, I asked if you'd got them and they said you were happy and getting the letters from me would just have upset you."

Hollie shook her head. "It wouldn't."

Nikki barely heard her, trapped in her own thoughts and memories. "They said you never talked about me, never asked questions, never wanted to know. I didn't want to believe it but, as you got older, I realised they were right. I had missed too much to repair the damage. So I stuck to trying to convince you that I'd be there if you needed me. I gave up on being your mum and tried to be your friend instead."

"I didn't need a friend... I needed my mum." The teenager almost sobbed.

"I know." Nikki agreed nodding. "But they wouldn't let me get close. I did the teacher training course when I left the army in the hope that if I got a job and got settled you might want to come and live with me. But your Nan told me that wasn't going to happen. I thought it was what you wanted, so I stayed away. But when I found out... about the drugs... I came back. I wanted to help. But they wouldn't let me in. They told me you were fine and completely rejected any mention that you were on drugs. I waited all night one night, just sitting in my car and waiting for you to come out of the house. But you didn't and your Granddad told me to go."

"How did you find out? What do you…?" The teenager asked, her face turning a deathly shade of white. She hadn't known that Nikki knew about the drugs. Panicked, she wondered just how much her mother knew about her life in London. "You didn't speak to Auntie Jo, did you?"

Wondering why Hollie had automatically thought of her cousin, Nikki shook her head. "No. Why? Did she know?"

"No!" The teenager replied quickly. "No, I don't think so… but she's a cop, ain't she?"

"It wasn't Jo. Mrs Saunders told me. The night you fell off her wall and broke your arm she phoned me to say I needed to come back and talk some sense into you."

"How did she know your number?" The teenager demanded, almost accusingly. "I've always struggled to get hold of it. By the time I managed to get it off Nan, you'd usually moved on or changed it."

Wincing, her mother nodded. "I tried to give it to you. Your grandparents had my number every time I changed it, but they always refused to pass it on." Nikki told her angrily. "Mrs Saunders knew I was teaching at Waterloo Road in Rochdale because her niece, Lorraine Donnegan, was..."

"She's the one who set up this place..." Hollie finished, nodding in sudden understanding. "She's the one who got me a place here. I knew I recognised her."

"She didn't know I decided not to make the move and thought that we'd be reunited. Mrs Saunders knew... well, she knew..."

Hollie took a deep breath and stepped forward shakily. "She knew it wasn't your fault."

"I'm not blameless." Nikki argued, shaking her head. "I could have... should have... fought for you."

"You were sixteen." Hollie reminded her. All the bitterness and anger she'd felt towards her mother had vanished. Instead it was replaced with regret; regret that she'd never fought to see her, regret that she'd never argued with her grandparents when they'd bad-mouthed her and regret that they'd missed out on so much time. She had had enough fighting now. "What were you supposed to do? I… I couldn't do what you did…"

"I'm not sixteen anymore." Her mother mumbled, turning away.

Hollie shook her head and reached out. As her hand closed on the older woman's shoulder, she forced her to turn and meet her eyes. "No, you're not; I am. But you're here now and you've explained things. I understand now."

"We can't fix this just because I'm here and you think you understand."

"I agree." The teenager told her with a small shrug. "It'll take work. But you must want... you must want us to... to be a family, or you wouldn't have bothered writing me those letters or camping outside the house or explaining things to me."

After a moment, Nikki fished inside her shirt and pulled out the locket that was hanging on the end of a long, delicate gold chain. She opened it to reveal a photo. "Cliché, I know, but this is the first photo that was taken of you. I never take this off, even when I was on tour."

"I never really had any photos of you. Nan and Gramps... why did they hate you so much?"

Nikki laughed mirthlessly. "You name a reason and that's why. They didn't approve of my friends or my clothes or my attitude or my plans. When I got pregnant it just seemed to confirm everything they thought about me. Having an abortion was never an option as far as I was concerned." She said firmly, taking Hollie's hand and squeezing it. Something passed through the teenager's eyes and she glanced down. "But they wouldn't let me keep you. I had no money and nowhere much to go. The only chance I had to make sure I was part of your life, however small a part, was to let them raise you. When I decided to join the army your Granddad said it would be the making of me. I think your Nan was pleased I wouldn't be around. Perhaps she thought I'd never come back."

Hollie gasped. "That's awful!"

Nikki looked at her quickly and tentatively stepped forwards, closing the gap between them. For a split second they just looked at each other. Then, with a small sob, Hollie wrapped her arms around her mother and buried her face in her shoulder. Nikki closed her eyes, resting her head against the teenager's and held her tightly.

When they broke apart, Nikki gently led Hollie to sit on one of the desks. She kept hold of her daughter's hands, holding them tightly in her own. Both women kept their gaze on their entwined fingers for a moment.

"What now?" Hollie asked at last, glancing up.

Nikki sighed. "I don't know." She admitted.

A look of panic crossed the teenager's face. "You can't leave me again, not now."

"Hey, hey…" Her mother shushed her softly, putting a hand on her cheek and looking directly into her eyes. "I am never going anywhere again. As long as you need me around I'll be here."

Hollie shook her head. "I don't need you around." She said. Noticing the look of devastation that appeared in Nikki's eyes, she continued quickly. "I don't need you around; I've survived this long without you. But I want you around, Mum."

The significance of her last word was not lost on either of them. It was the first time either of them could remember Hollie actually calling Nikki 'Mum' since she was little.

Smiling, Nikki stood up. "We should get you home. Maggie will be wondering where you've got to."

"Home..." Hollie murmured softly. "I suppose it's better if I stay there."

Sighing, Nikki sat back down on the desk. "For now. Until we've worked things out a bit more. It's not..."

"I understand. It's better if no one knows you're my Mum yet, either. Isn't it?"

Nikki nodded and moved to open the cooler door wordlessly. As they headed back to Nikki's classroom to collect up their things, the woman slipped an arm around her daughter's shoulders. It felt so natural to be walking together in such close proximity that, once coats were on and bags were on shoulders, they resumed the position.

* * *

_**A/N: I'm back! I know I said I was borrowing a social life until Wednesday, but it got a little wild and I had to return it to its rightful owner early (mainly thanks to a dentist's appointment and the fact I have to babysit tomorrow). I'm clearly too old (at twenty-one) for a social life any more...**_

**_Thanks to you all for reading and thanks to LucyMaxine, Anastasia Dove, elliesimpson and PondGirl11 for reviewing! :D_**


	25. Chapter 25

Nikki was unable to prevent Hollie being suspended and so the teenager found herself banned from school for the remaining two days of that week and the whole of the following week. When she was allowed to return, Scout had informed everyone that her seventeenth birthday was on Thursday and everyone was expecting a party. Maggie agreed to allow the teenagers to use the School House on Friday night on the proviso that there was no trouble and definitely no alcohol involved.

Completely forgetting that she'd already agreed to spend Saturday with the girls, Hollie arranged to meet her mother on the corner down the road from the School House early that same morning. She had already said goodbye to Maggie, who looked at her with bemusement, and headed out of the house before she remembered her conflicting plans. Pulling out her mobile, she sent the girls a text telling them she was sorry, but something had come up that she couldn't ignore and she'd make it up to them.

"Hey." Nikki called, rolling down the window as she drew up on the corner where they'd agreed to meet.

Hollie grinned and got in the car. For a moment she thought about leaning over and kissing her mother on the cheek, but decided against it. They weren't quite at that point in their relationship yet. Instead she pushed her bag into the foot well and settled herself in the seat.

"So, where are we going?" She asked curiously as her mother followed the signposts towards the A8.

"Edinburgh."

"Really?" Hollie exclaimed with a grin.

Nikki smiled at her. "You said you wanted to go to Edinburgh, so I decided to take you. And because I wasn't sure what to get you for your birthday – I guessed a car was a bit too much – you can choose anything you want."

"So like…"

As the seventeen-year-old's voice trailed off and she attempted to think of something ridiculous to ask her mother for, Nikki laughed. "Something within reason, love."

Hollie sighed dramatically. "Fine." She turned to face the woman beside her, a child-like grin on her face. "What are we going to do in Edinburgh?"

"Whatever you want! We can go shopping or to the zoo or… well… whatever you want to do. This is your birthday treat, so you get to decide."

By the end of the journey Hollie had decided that she wanted to spend their day just hanging around; sightseeing and getting to know each other better. Nikki had brought her camera and by the time they climbed back into the car to head back to Greenock, the memory card was full. They'd visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle, before spending a long time in Holyrood Park. Luckily the weather was good and their day wasn't spoilt by rain. Nikki had weakly suggested that they headed up to Arthur's Seat, but her daughter had just laughed and pointed out that she wasn't dressed for climbing mountains.

They were just driving through Glasgow when Hollie's mobile started ringing. Nikki raised an eyebrow at her ringtone as the teenager snatched it up hurriedly. "Hey, Maggie."

"I was just wondering whether you're intending to be back for dinner, because we're having it at seven as usual." The House Mistress asked.

Hollie glanced across at Nikki, covering the speaker and repeating the woman's question. When her mother shook her head, the teenager smiled. "No, I'm out for dinner. I should have let you know, sorry."

"Where are you, pet?"

"I'm with my Mum." Hollie told her, causing the woman beside her to look across quickly, raising an eyebrow. "She wanted to meet up because it was my birthday."

When Maggie answered, she seemed to be dying to bombard her with questions. "Oh… So… Have you had a nice time?"

"Brilliant, thanks. The best birthday ever and it's not even really my birthday."

"I'm so glad, love." Maggie told her sincerely. "You enjoy your evening, but make sure you're in by ten. Birthday or no birthday, you know the rules."

"I will be. See you later."

As she hung up, Nikki pondered which question to ask first. Finally she settled on, "Why is your ringtone _Five Colours in her Hair_ by McFly?"

"Why not? McFly are everyone's guilty pleasure band, right?" The teenager replied defensively.

"Fair enough…" Her mother conceded with a shrug. "Why did you tell Maggie you were with me?"

Hollie grinned. "I didn't, technically. I said I was with my Mum; I never told her I was with Miss Boston. That means that I didn't lie to her, but I also didn't give away the secret."

Nikki laughed. "Very clever, Miss Evans." As the teenager's stomach rumbled loudly, she laughed again. "Pizza and a DVD at mine before I take you back to the School House? You need to be back by ten, right?"

"Right." Hollie agreed. "Can I choose the film?"

Sighing exaggeratedly, her mother nodded. "I suppose so… as long as it's not some slushy romantic thing that'll have me reaching for a sick bucket."

"No way… I'd rather spend the day with Mr Budgen." Hollie replied at once, pulling a face. "Give me a comedy every time."

"A girl after my own heart."

There were no complaints when Hollie flicked through her mother's DVD collection and decided that they should watch _Hot Fuzz_. When that finished, it was only half past eight, so the teenager flicked through the films again and decided that they should watch _Bridesmaids_. As that, too, came to an end both women knew that they needed to make a move if Hollie was going to get back in time to prevent herself being grounded. Neither, though, were eager to move.

"Mum… who are those girls in that photo with you and Auntie Jo?" Hollie asked, pointing at the photo on the mantelpiece. She was suddenly overtaken by a need to know who the two blondes were.

"Who?" Something about her mother's tone and expression set Hollie on edge. "Oh… They're just some friends of ours… Emma and Janey… they went to school with Jo and me."

The teenager shrugged. "Oh, cool. They just look… I dunno… familiar…"

"You ready to go, then?" Nikki asked, standing up quickly and picking up her keys from the coffee table.

"I guess."

Before they reached the door, the woman pulled her daughter into a tight hug. Hollie returned the gesture, clinging onto Nikki tightly. Pulling away after a couple of moments, Nikki handed the teenager a small box and smiled at her. Confused, Hollie opened the box to reveal a pair of silver hoop earrings; not dissimilar from the ones almost always in her ears, but obviously more expensive.

"Mum… they're gorgeous. Thank you."

"My pleasure." Nikki assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Now let's get you back before you get into trouble."


	26. Chapter 26

"So you ditched us for your Mum?" Scout demanded the next morning when Hollie finally made her way downstairs. "Maggie told us."

"Well… she really wanted to take me out 'cos of my birthday…" The brunette replied awkwardly. She dropped onto the sofa and turned the telly on, flicking through the channels to find something interesting to watch.

"I thought you hated her?"

"No. I don't hate her. Not anymore."

Scout frowned. "Why not?"

"We talked stuff through and we've decided to move on. She's my Mum and I love her, Scout. I can't just try and pretend she doesn't exist." Hollie told her weakly. "It's not like I let her off easily… it took ages for me to properly listen to her… and I was a right cow. I mean I slapped her, for god's sake."

She stopped talking abruptly, turning to face her friend with wide eyes. The blonde teenager fixed her with a surprised glare, her mouth dropping open.

"Miss Boston is your Mum?" Scout demanded incredulously.

Hollie jumped to her feet and pushed the living room door closed, before crossing the room and sitting beside her friend on the other sofa. "You can't say anything, Scout. Please, please keep this to yourself."

"Why didn't you tell me?" The blonde demanded. "Why does it have to be a secret?"

"It's just easier at the moment." Hollie told her quietly. "We're gonna work something out. But for now, until we know each other well enough to live together, it's easier to keep it a secret. Think how much pressure there would be if everyone knew."

"OK, OK… I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, babe. Look… to make it up to you for bailing yesterday, what about we get the train to Glasgow on Saturday and do some proper Christmas shopping?" Hollie suggested, ignoring the doorbell and Maggie's shouts for someone to answer the door.

Scout nodded and grinned. "Sounds good."

"Will one of you girls get the door?" Maggie demanded, poking her head into the room and glaring at them. "I'm up to me elbows in there!"

"I'll go." Hollie told her, smiling and rolling her eyes.

The brunette pulled herself up off the sofa and padded slowly towards the front door. The house was so big that, even with the heating on, Hollie was cold enough to feel the need to put the hood of her hoody up to keep the draught off her neck. She put a hand on the catch, opening the front door and looking at the young woman standing on the step indifferently.

The young woman was slightly taller than she was, slim and had long dark hair which was pulled back in a neat high pony-tail. The expression on her face when their eyes met confused Hollie, who tilted her head to one side and looked her up and down quickly. She was wearing tight jeans, a blouse and a long cardigan underneath a long, dark blue coat. Her appearance contrasted dramatically with Hollie's who, apart from the hoody, was still wearing her pyjamas and fluffy boot slippers.

"Can I help you?" The teenager asked the stranger, unable to keep a slight accusation out of her voice.

"Are you… Are you Hollie Evans?"

Hollie narrowed her eyes. "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Nat; Natalie Williams. Hollie… I'm your sister."

x-x

Hollie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had simply stood and gaped at the young woman, who turned out to only be two years older than her, on the doorstep. It was only when Maggie appeared, demanding to know why there was a draught running through the house, that Natalie was invited inside.

All the brunette could do while her sister talked was sit in stunned silence. She wanted to speak to her Mum, to find out whether what Natalie was telling her was true. Hollie had never really been interested in her father; he'd never been bothered with her. But the more Natalie told her, the less she liked him anyway.

"So… let me get this straight." Scout said, leaning forward eagerly. "You and Hollie have the same Dad and you also have four other half-sisters and three half-brothers?"

Natalie nodded. Hollie really wished that they were talking about this in private. Instead, Scout had stayed in the living room, listening nosily to everything her sister was telling her. The brunette hadn't known anything about her father until now and her friend was finding out everything at the same time. She was too confused to complain, though, letting the other girl talk for her.

"What are they called?" The blonde asked interestedly.

"Callum and Leon, Paige and Tia and Cody, Faith and Serenity." Natalie told them with a smile. She noticed the raised eyebrows at her youngest sister's name and grinned. "Cody, Fai and Reni's Mum is a bit of a hippy."

"So do you, like, all live together?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No; I live in Manchester with my Mum and Cody, Fai and Reni live there with our Dad and their Mum. Cal and Leon live in Bradford with their Mum, Step-Dad and half-sister, Pippa. Paige and Tia live in Liverpool with their Mum and Nan." Natalie glanced at Hollie. "We knew about Hollie, but we never knew where she lived."

"How did you find me, then?" Hollie almost snapped, finding her voice at last.

"Our Nan was looking for you. She knew that your Grandparents had moved to London about six years ago, but she didn't know where exactly." The older girl said quickly. "But then she had a phone call a week ago saying that you were here, so I decided to come and check it out."

"Who called her?"

Natalie shrugged. "I dunno… a woman. She didn't say who she was; she just said that you were up here living in some kind of boarding house. It was a London area code, though."

As Hollie sent her a meaningful glance, Scout stood up and made an excuse about having homework to finish. The brunette followed her out of the room, asking her in a low voice not to tell anyone who Natalie was; for now at least. Agreeing that, if anyone asked, she would just say that she was a mate of Hollie's from home, Scout gave her a quick hug and headed off upstairs.

Back in the living room, Hollie sat on the edge of the sofa awkwardly. "I'm sorry… this is just… well, I never knew I had any brothers or sisters and then… I've got loads and you're here and our Nan was trying to find me."

"It's a lot to take in, right?" Natalie agreed with a warm smile.

"Yeah… it's always just been me and my Grandparents. Mum… well, she didn't get on with them and they never really let her stick around. My Auntie Jo moved away a couple of years ago but she was always really busy anyway so…"

"Nan liked your Mum. And your Auntie Jo. She said they spent a lot of time with Auntie Emma and Auntie Janey."

Hollie frowned. "Who?"

"Dad's younger sisters." Natalie told her with a grin, seeing the expression on her sister's face. "He's got three sisters and two brothers. My Mum doesn't like Gary or Martin, so I don't really see them; they're not exactly… on the right side of the law most of the time. But I see Emma, Janey and Karin quite often."

"I don't think I can cope with all that." Hollie admitted, looking at her hands in embarrassment. "So many new people at once… it's just too much."

Tentatively Natalie reached forwards and squeezed Hollie's hand. "I understand. Well, I suppose I don't because I've grown up with such a massive family. But I get what you mean; it's a lot to take in." She smiled weakly. "If you want me to go…"

"No. No, I… you've come all this way just on the off chance I'd be here." Hollie smiled at her. "I like the idea of having a sister."

"Good, because I'd quite like a sister with an age gap of less than fourteen years."


	27. Chapter 27

By the time Natalie had left the School House that evening, she and Hollie had agreed to meet up again just before Christmas. Despite never having met before, they got on really well and had far more in common than either of them had ever expected. Before Natalie left, Hollie had given her a photo to give to their Nan and written, 'love Hollie x' on the back. She briefly wondered whether out of both her Grandmothers, the one who actually cared about her was the one she didn't remember ever meeting.

Hollie wondered whether to tell her Mum about Natalie. The pros and cons of doing so swirled around her mind, fighting to win. In the end she decided to keep it to herself for a while. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell Nikki; Hollie was afraid that it was too soon. She'd only just regained a positive relationship with her mother and she didn't want to risk it by telling her that she'd met her father's older daughter.

At school the next day, the brunette had to almost grovel for her friends to forgive her for bailing on their plans on Saturday. In the end they did forgive her and they also approved of her plan to catch a train to Glasgow and go shopping that Saturday instead. Scout was the only person who knew that Nikki was Hollie's mother, but all of her friends had noticed a difference in her attitude to their English teacher.

Things carried on as normal for the next week and a half until they broke up for Christmas. Nikki and Hollie had spent time together a couple of evenings after school and the Sunday after the teenager had been to Glasgow with her friends. Now that they were being totally open with each other, their relationship was getting stronger and stronger.

On the Wednesday before Christmas, the last day of term, lessons were cancelled and there was a party atmosphere throughout the whole school. In the common room, Hollie and her friends were swapping presents in their own little secret santa gathering. The brunette handed Imogen a small box containing a pair of earrings made up of lots of multi-coloured stars dropping at different lengths from diamond studs. The Scot squealed delightedly and hugged her friend, before putting them on and beaming across the table at her. Hollie opened her present from Kevin to discover a hairband with a sprig of mistletoe attached. She rolled her eyes as he demanded she put it on.

"If you think I'm kissing you, you've got another thing coming." She told him with a grin.

He shrugged and smirked cheekily at her. "It's the rules."

Rolling her eyes, she leant forwards and pecked him quickly on the lips, before dodging backwards and laughing. Hollie raised an eyebrow at the genuinely hurt expression on his face as she pulled away from him and removed the hairband quickly.

"Oh, go on Hols!" Scout encouraged her with a giggle. "Kevin totally fancies you, give him a proper kiss!"

As he turned to her, the brunette decided that she might as well. He was cute and she got on with him well; besides, it was Christmas and she hadn't had any other offers lately. Placing a hand on either side of his face, she kissed him soundly. Running her tongue along his bottom lip, she slid it into his mouth. When they broke apart, she leant back on the sofa and picked up the CD that Scout had given Connor and looked at the back of it casually.

"Bloody hell…" Kevin muttered. "Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

She grinned. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Hollie?" Nikki called from the doorway, apparently doing her best to conceal a grin. "Can I have a word?"

Turning bright red, the seventeen-year-old climbed to her feet and shot Scout a look, before heading towards her mother. The blonde winced slightly and looked down at the DVD in her hands.

"Having fun?" Nikki asked smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, thanks… just swapping presents with my mates."

Her mother snorted. "What? Kevin's gift to you was saliva, was it?"

"Oh…" Hollie could feel her cheeks growing hot as she blushed. "No… he got me this hairband with mistletoe on it and… well…" She frowned. "So, did you want anything in particular, or just to embarrass me to death?"

"No, I was wondering whether you fancied the cinema tonight?"

The teenager grinned. "So you invite me to the cinema on a night when you can get two tickets for the price of one? Cheers!"

"You're going to the cinema… with Miss Boston?" Rhiannon demanded loudly.

Hollie whirled around, in a panic. Since Scout had decided that they should try and make an effort to be nice to the girl, Hollie had really tried. But there were times where she would quite happily have punched her in the face. That moment was definitely one of those times. Glancing quickly at Nikki, the teenager made a decision.

"Yeah… my Mum invited me to the cinema… so what? Are you jealous or something that my Mum actually wants to spend time with me?"

"Your Mum?" Rhiannon repeated, battling with amusement and shock.

"You're kidding, right?" Phoenix called as the rest of the teenagers in the common room crowded round.

"Nope." Nikki replied, taking some of the focus away from her daughter. "Poor kid's got me to deal with." She glanced at her watch. "Now… you better hurry up and get to the hall for the end of term assembly."

As the teenagers filed out of the room, buzzing with the new information they had just learnt, Hollie hung back and waited until she and Nikki were alone again. "I'm really sorry, Mum. I just didn't want Rhiannon to go round saying there was anything weird going on between us. You know what she's like and I didn't want you getting into trouble or anything."

"It's fine, sweetheart. They were going to have to find out sometime soon, weren't they?"

"Yeah, but maybe I should have given you a chance to tell the teachers and stuff first." Hollie said. She looked at her mother's expression. "You've told them, haven't you?"

"Only Michael and Sian." Nikki replied quickly. "I thought they should know; Michael's my boss. I had to tell him at least."

Her daughter shrugged and nodded. "Obviously… now what, though?"

"Well… I guess you could come and stay at mine for a few days over Christmas if you want?" She suggested with a smile. "I mean, now that everyone knows you're my daughter it wouldn't look weird."

"I'd like that… get away from the others for a couple of days. If you don't mind?"

Nikki furrowed her eyebrows in a sort of amused confusion. "Why would I mind, sweetheart?" When Hollie just shrugged, the woman pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. "So… you and Kevin Skelton, eh?"

"I'd better get to assembly." Hollie told her with a grin, avoiding the question. "Just 'cos I'm your daughter I doubt that'll stop Mr Byrne having a go at me!"

* * *

_**A/N: Hello darlings!**_

_**I've decided to give you two updates tonight, mainly because the last chapter was kind of a filler chapter and there was a LOT of information in it. Most of it is just background info that you won't need to remember. Some of it will come up again... you'll know when it does ;)**_

_**B x**_


	28. Chapter 28

"You have fun now, pet." Maggie ordered Hollie as the teenager dropped her holdall on the floor in the hallway.

It was Christmas Eve, two days after Natalie's second visit to see Hollie. The seventeen-year-old was going to stay with Nikki for a few days over Christmas, returning on New Year's Eve because there was a party planned at the School House and the teenager didn't want to miss them. Also, she didn't want to jinx the good relationship she had built up with her mother by trying to do too much too soon.

"Mum only lives down the road and I'm only going for a week or so." Hollie told the House Mistress with a grin. "Besides, me and Mum will probably be doing each other's heads in by tomorrow so I'll be coming to visit."

Maggie pulled her into a hug, just as the doorbell rang. "Oh! I will miss you though!"

Hollie laughed and gave her a tight squeeze, before picking up her bags and shouting goodbye to the others. She'd already said her goodbyes, feeling as though she was leaving for good and moving to the other side of the world, rather than just around the corner for a few days.

Nikki smiled and took one of the bags she was carrying. "I didn't bring the car. I didn't think there was that much point."

"Nah… as I was just telling Maggie, you live pretty much round the corner."

When they arrived at Nikki's house, the woman showed her daughter up to the room she'd be sleeping in. It was neutral, like the rest of the house, except for one turquoise feature wall behind the head of the double bed. Hollie grinned as she realised that all the furnishings – the duvet cover, the beside lamp, the lampshade and the rug – matched that wall.

"It's my favourite colour." She said, sensing Nikki watching her reaction.

"I know." Her mother nodded, putting her bag down on her bed. "You told me."

Once she'd settled in, Hollie headed downstairs and found her mother in the kitchen, leaning against the stove with a glass of white wine in one hand and a large wooden spoon in the other. She was humming quietly as she stirred whatever was in the pot on the hob. The sight made the teenager smile; it was the normal home life that she'd always dreamt of.

After dinner, they curled up on the sofa. Hollie watched Nikki as she sipped her wine slowly, laughing occasionally at the Christmas Special of some comedy programme that she liked. When it ended, the teenager reached for the remote, hitting the mute button.

"Tell me something I don't know about you." She urged her mother. "Anything at all… just something you haven't told me."

Nikki thought for a moment. "I once went food shopping and spent 35 quid on ice cream, vodka, chocolate and a birthday cake."

"Why?" The teenager asked, giggling softly at the image.

Nikki shrugged. "I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time." She grinned. "Your turn."

Hollie bit her lip, as though trying to decide whether to tell her mother what she was thinking or not. Slowly, she raised the bottom hem of her top and pulled it up to reveal her stomach, complete with a diamond in her belly button. Nikki stared at the piercing for a moment, before lifting her own shirt.

"Snap."

"What?" Hollie almost laughed, just managing to stop herself in time. "That is so not cool."

Nikki laughed. "You don't have the monopoly on rebellion, you know. When I was your age…"

She trailed off and they exchanged an awkward look. Hollie chewed her lip, angling her head slightly so that her fringe fell across her face. For a moment they sat in silence, each thinking about where Nikki's sentence could have gone. Then the teenager realised that one of them had to move on first.

"Nan went skitz when she realised I'd had this done."

"You showed her?" Nikki asked, unable to contain her astonishment. She was also incredibly relieved that Hollie didn't seem uncomfortable.

"Course not! I'm not completely mental! You know what she was like with privacy and boundaries. She barged into my room one day when I was getting changed… started banging on about moral depravity and inherent badness." Hollie giggled. "I reckon she thought it was your fault that I went to that shop and got it done."

"It probably was." The woman agreed with a small nod and a grin. "I may as well have taken you there and paid for it myself."

Laughing, her daughter shook her head. "Yeah, well, I'd rather be like you than her any day…"

"Any other secret rebellions I should know about?" Nikki asked, taking a sip of her wine to stop the grin that had forced itself onto her face at Hollie's last words. At the expression that appeared on the teenager's face, she put down the glass quickly. "Hollie?"

"There might just be… one tiny little… teeny little thing you might not completely one hundred per cent approve of…"

Nikki looked concerned. "What?"

"I can't believe I'm about to show you this." Hollie muttered, shaking her head slightly. Hooking a thumb into the waistband of her jeans, she pulled it down slightly to reveal a small, star tattoo on her hip.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a tattoo… duh. Nan told me that you went and got one on your fifteenth birthday, so I did the same."

Nikki sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Mine was fake, Hollie. I drew it on with a marker just to piss them off."

Hollie looked at her for a moment, before bursting out laughing. "You're kidding?"

"No! How did you even get it? You have to be eighteen don't you?"

"Friends in high places, me." The teenager told her with a grin, leaning back in her seat.

"The same friends that gave you the drugs?" At her mother's words and accusing tone, Hollie tensed. Nikki kicked herself. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean that."

"No… it's fine." Hollie lied.

"No, it isn't, sweetheart." Her mother shook her head and sighed. "I'm really sorry."

They sat together in silence for a moment before Hollie stifled a yawn. She glanced sideways. "This has absolutely nothing to do with what you just said, but I think I'm going to head to bed."

Nikki nodded and pressed a kiss to her cheek as the teenager bent down to hug her. As Hollie left the room, her mother stared miserably into her glass of wine, wondering whether she'd just really messed up.

x-x

The rest of Hollie's stay passed relatively smoothly. The only bump came when Nikki informed her daughter that Tom and Josh were coming over for lunch on Christmas Day. The teenager had sulked for a while, unwilling to share her mother with anyone else. Sighing, Nikki had asked whether Hollie would prefer her to call them and cancel but, seeing that her Mum would be incredibly upset if she did, Hollie said no. She was civil to the English teacher and his son, but her attitude was far from friendly.

Nikki didn't really understand why her daughter was so against Tom and Josh, apart from the fact she was jealous. Tom had assured her that Hollie would get over it in time and that he was wasn't the slightest bit surprised that she was reacting the way she was. He pointed out that the teenager had only just got her back and was probably afraid that he was going to take Nikki away from her.

With that thought bouncing around in her mind, Nikki had done her best to reassure Hollie that whatever happened with Tom, she would always be around for her. Whether or not the teenager completely believed it was the case, she wasn't sure, but she seemed happier and more relaxed when Tom and Josh came round again.

On the morning of New Year's Eve Hollie was lying sprawled over the sofa, watching a film on TV and dipping her hand into a bowl of crisps every couple of minutes, when Nikki walked into the living room dressed in her running gear and stared at her daughter in exasperation.

"You are so lazy!" She exclaimed. "Come on, let's go for a run."

"You are joking?" Hollie snorted, looking highly amused by her suggestion.

"Why would I be joking?"

"Me? Run? You've obviously never seen me in PE." The teenager told her, shoving a crisp in her mouth and swallowing quickly. "You know that episode of Friends where Rachel and Phoebe go jogging?"

"The one where Phoebe looks ridiculous?"

"Yeah. Well compared to me she's... what's that runner guy called. The really good one?" Hollie asked, screwing up her face.

"Usian Bolt?" Her mother suggested, smirking in amusement.

She nodded and turned her attention back to the TV. "Yeah, that's the one. So, if you don't mind, I think I'll skip the social humiliation for today."

"Suit yourself." Nikki replied with a shrug. "Will you be OK on your own?"

"I'm seventeen, mother, not seven." The teenager replied, rolling her eyes. "Go and have fun, you weirdo."

Laughing, the woman left the house, leaving her daughter engrossed in the film. Hollie watched it, not really taking much of it in. It was the kind of film that they put on every Christmas and she wasn't sure whether she was actually remembering it or watching it most of the time. As the credits rolled, her mobile began buzzing and she leant over to answer it, almost toppling off the sofa as she did so.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Hollie Evans?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

The teenager frowned. "Yes."

"This is Annette Simpson from Bank Hall Residential Home." The woman informed her. It took a couple of seconds for Hollie to realise that it was the home her grandmother was living in.

"Oh, of course. Is my Nan alright?"

"Unfortunately Mrs Boston was admitted into hospital this morning with pneumonia."

"Oh… but… is she…?"

"The doctors say she's responding well to treatment, but it is routine to let the next of kin know when their relatives are admitted to hospital." She pointed out snootily.

Hollie raised an eyebrow at the woman's tone. "Yes, of course. Which hospital is she at?"

"Chelsea and Westminster Hospital."

"Great, thank you for letting me know. Goodbye." Hollie said politely, sending a very impolite hand gesture towards the phone as she hung up.

"What was that about?" Nikki asked from the doorway, making her daughter jump. "Sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"No… it's… Nan's in hospital. She's got pneumonia."

Sitting down heavily, Nikki looked at her. "Oh… that's…"

"Yeah." The teenager looked sideways at her mother underneath her fringe. "D'you think we should go and see her?" At the raised eyebrow her mother was aiming in her direction, she shrugged. "I know she's… well… but she did look after me for sixteen years."

"In the loosest sense of the word." Nikki reminded her bitterly. Seeing the expression on Hollie's face, she sighed. "Alright. We'll go and see her. We'll make it a little trip, right?"


	29. Chapter 29

"You are kidding me." Hollie muttered, glancing past her mother to the car.

Mr Clarkson was sitting in the driver's seat, smiling at her, while his son sat in the back. Josh had a pair of headphones on and the look on his face indicated that he was far from thrilled at being dragged on this cosy little outing. Then again, Hollie was far from being in the best of moods either; it was just after eight in the morning on New Year's Day and she had had very little sleep the night before.

"Tom offered to drive us." Nikki told the teenager, taking her bag and moving towards the car. "Be nice."

"Why? What's it got to do with him? She's your Mum, my Nan… what is she to him?"

Sighing, the woman paused beside the car and looked at her daughter. "Just… Hollie, please. I like Tom and he's the first decent guy who's shown me any interest in months… years. Me and you and me and Tom are completely separate things. He's not a threat to you."

"But we're not separate, are we?" Hollie pointed out. "Because you're bringing him to see Nan in hospital."

Rubbing her forehead tiredly, Nikki shook her head. "Look… I'm not in the mood for this now, Hollie. Either get in the car or don't; it's up to you."

Clenching her jaw, Hollie glared at her for a moment. Then she pushed past her mother and wrenched open the car door, throwing herself inside and slamming it shut behind her. Tom smiled, but Hollie blanked him, putting her earphones in and turning the volume right up on her iPod. She didn't miss the look that passed between Tom and Nikki when her mother got into the passenger seat and gritted her teeth, turning to stare out of the window as the car pulled onto the road.

It was a seven hour drive to London and Hollie felt as though she was going mad. They stopped several times on the way for toilet breaks and food. Tom tried to be matey, offering to buy her magazines and sweets, but Hollie coldly refused. Nikki sent her warning looks, but they seemed to have no effect on the teenager at all. She barely removed the earphones from her ears, except when she was forced to.

At almost four o'clock they finally pulled up outside the Travelodge they were staying at. Nikki and the teenagers got out and went to check in, while Tom drove the car to the nearest car park. Following her mother to the desk, trailing after her beside Josh, the girl looked around interestedly. She had never stayed in a hotel before, apart from the one night in Greenock before she'd started at Waterloo Road, because her grandparents weren't fans of staying anywhere that wasn't their house.

Leaning on the reception desk Hollie removed one of her earphones and was unimpressed, but not surprised, when the receptionist read out their reservation; three adjoining rooms on the third floor, two singles and a double booked under the name 'Clarkson'.

"Here are your key cards, Mrs Clarkson. Breakfast is served from six until ten."

"Err… it's Miss Boston, actually." Nikki corrected the young woman, spotting the expression on her daughter's face.

"Right, well…" The receptionist looked as though she didn't particularly care. Handing over the key cards, she sent them a toothy grin that didn't meet her eyes. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

Hollie held out her hand and Nikki placed one of the cards into it with a stern look. She handed one of the other cards to Josh and they waited for Tom to arrive. The girl found that she couldn't look at him as he smiled and put a hand on the small of Nikki's back, almost proprietarily. He smiled at the teenagers, who both stared back blankly.

"Can we go and see Nan, now?" Hollie asked bluntly. "I checked the visiting times and they're from three until eight."

"Let's get settled in first, eh?" Tom suggested.

"You're not coming." She snapped.

"Hollie!" Nikki said firmly, sending the teenager a look. Hollie glared at her for a moment, before looking at the floor. "Right, let's go and get sorted and then Hollie and I will go to the hospital. It's a twenty minute walk from here, so we've got plenty of time. You and your Dad can occupy yourselves for a couple of hours, right, Josh?"

"Right." He agreed, not looking entirely pleased either.

The teenagers trailed into the lift after their parents, ignoring the cheerful chatter about how nicely decorated it was. They left the lift on the third floor, looking around for a clue as to which way to go. Tom pointed out the arrow, directing them towards their rooms and they set off along the corridor. The double room was the first they came to, with Hollie's next to it and Josh's next to hers.

"I'll come and get you in fifteen minutes, Hols?" Nikki said, her statement sounding more like a question.

The teenager nodded and disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her. She took a deep breath and dumped her bag on the bed, looking around. It was a nice room; white and clean and simple. The first thing she did was turn on the television, choosing a music channel and turning the volume up. Then she unzipped her bag and started hanging up her clothes, putting some on the shelves that ran down one side and lining up the two pairs of shoes she'd brought in the bottom.

Seeing that she had ten minutes to kill, she went into the bathroom and started the shower, wanting to freshen up after spending the whole day in the car. The hot water calmed her down, stopping her panicking so much about seeing her Nan. Until now she had tried not to think about it, but now she couldn't avoid it anymore and she was worried. Even if she hadn't already made it obvious that she wanted visit her with just her mother, she would have. Nan was bad enough to cope with when you knew how to deal with her; Tom and Josh would probably have been incredibly offended by her behaviour.

She was just reapplying her makeup when there was a knock on the door. Hollie moved to open it, returning to the mirror as Nikki came in. Glancing at her mother's reflection in the mirror, the teenager saw that she had changed. Subconsciously they had both chosen outfits that the woman they were going to see would approve of. Well, Hollie admitted, she would almost approve. There would definitely be something about her polka-dot dress, tights and ballet pumps that her grandmother would find fault with.

"Ready?" Nikki asked softly.

Nodding, the teenager turned to face her, chewing on her lip. "What if she's totally horrible?"

"I don't doubt that she will be." Her mother replied with a shrug. "She's ill, which will make her doubly grumpy. Not to mention the fact that I'm going with you." Noticing the way her daughter's face crumpled, Nikki held out her arms. "It'll be alright, I promise."

Burying her face in her mother's jacket, Hollie closed her eyes. Nikki stroked her hair gently, rocking her slightly and rubbing her back. Pressing a kiss to her head, the woman pulled away and moved to stand by the door. Hollie gathered up her phone and purse, pushing them into her coat pockets and took the key card from the holder beside the door.

They exchanged a look and each took a deep breath as they made their way out of the room and down to the lobby. Outside, Hollie shivered as the cold January air hit her. Smiling, Nikki wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders and together they headed to the hospital, each wondering just how bad it would be.

* * *

**_A/N: Hello darlings! Thank you all for reading and special thanks to those of you reviewing - you know who you are, you lovely people! It really does mean a lot! :)_**


	30. Chapter 30

"Hi… can you tell me where Mrs Anne Boston is, please?" Nikki asked, leaning on the reception desk.

"Oh! Anne hardly ever gets any visitors." The nurse behind the desk said with a smile. "I'm so glad you've come. She's such a lovely lady. I'll take you to see her myself."

Exchanging a look and wondering if there was a case of mistaken identity, Nikki and Hollie followed the nurse along a corridor and through a door onto a ward. There were six beds in the room, three on each side, with curtains between them. Two of the curtains were drawn completely, blocking their inhabitants from view. The ward smelled of a mixture of cleaning products and the unmistakable smell that seemed to represent old people.

"Anne? I've got some visitors for you." The nurse said gently, helping the old lady to sit up and arranging the pillows behind her more comfortably.

Hollie's Nan looked eagerly for her visitors but, when her eyes settled on Nikki, her face fell. The woman's mouth curled into an unpleasant sneer and her eyes flicked over her daughter with distaste.

"Oh, it's you." She said in a flat voice.

"Nice to see you too, Mum." Nikki said calmly, moving to sit on one of the hard, plastic chairs the nurse had set out for them. She had the art of not seeming affected by her mother's cruelness down to perfection. "I've brought Hollie with me."

"So you've wormed your way back in there, have you?"

"Hi, Nan." Hollie said quickly, seeing the look in her mother's eyes. She bent down to kiss her grandmother on the cheek. "How're you feeling?"

"Terrible. Not that I suppose you care, you ungrateful child. You haven't been to visit me once since I got sent to that place, not even at Christmas. After everything your Granddad and I did for you…"

The teenager looked at her hands. "I'm sorry, Nan. I'm at that school in Scotland… I couldn't afford to visit at Christmas. The tickets were a hundred and thirty pounds one way. Did you get the presents I sent, though?"

"I don't eat chocolate and the jumper was too big."

"Sorry…" Hollie muttered.

Nikki was shocked at the change in her daughter. The attitude that she'd had on the journey down from Scotland and in the hotel had vanished, replaced by a meekness that she presumed had come from years of living with her grandmother. Anger rose in the woman at the realisation and she made up her mind to say something once and for all. She had just opened her mouth when the nurse reappeared.

"Can I offer you a drink? Tea? Coffee?" She asked with a wide smile.

"I could murder a cup of tea." Anne said, her bitterness evaporating at once. She smiled brightly at the nurse, who glanced at the visitors.

"A coffee would be lovely, thank you." Nikki said with a smile. "Black, no sugar, thanks."

"Tea please, milk, two sugars." Hollie said quietly.

"You don't take sugar." Her grandmother said, almost harshly.

"Sorry, Nan…" The teenager apologised, although she wasn't quite sure why. "No sugar, thanks."

The nurse looked curiously at her, before smiling and heading away along the ward. Clenching her jaw in irritation, Nikki leant forwards so that she could speak in a low voice and her mother would still hear.

"You do not tell my daughter whether she takes sugar or not." She hissed.

Anne rolled her eyes. "I see you're still as rude as ever, Nicola."

"You are incredible, d'you know that?" Nikki snapped. "You have the nerve to say I'm rude when you're there having a go at a seventeen-year-old who is too… scared… to stand up to you? Hollie probably feels indebted to you for looking after her, but you and I both know that you have absolutely no right to make her feel like that."

"Mum, leave it…" Hollie muttered, spotting the nurse returning out of the corner of her eye.

"No, Hollie, I won't. She needs to hear a few home truths for once, rather than everyone dancing around her and bowing down to her every command."

"You never could do as you were told, could you, young lady? And as for your daughter; don't be fooled by the innocent, butter-wouldn't-melt act. There's a lot more to that one than meets the eye, I can tell you."

Nikki glared at her. "Don't you dare 'young lady' me. Don't you dare! You have absolutely no right to–"

"Mum, please!" Her daughter begged desperately, laying a hand on her arm and shaking her head. She shot a glance at her grandmother. "Please, don't."

"I bet you're only here about your father's will, aren't you? You want to know why you got nothing." Anne cut in spitefully, taking advantage of the split second where her daughter glanced at the teenager and smiled weakly.

Taking a breath, Nikki struggled to control her temper. "I couldn't care less about Dad's will. I'm concerned about my daughter."

"Mum…"

For a moment Nikki and Hollie looked at each other. Then the older woman gave a small nod and sat back in her chair. They accepted their drinks from the nurse, who was sending them curious looks, before she left and they sat in silence for a moment.

"So," Hollie tried again, "what's the home like? Do they take you on day trips and stuff? When the social worker showed me the brochure it looked really nice."

Anne sniffed disdainfully. "It's alright. Not like being in your own home, though. I bet you couldn't wait to get me in there and off your hands."

"I didn't have a choice, Nan." The teenager tried to explain. "Social services decided that you had to go into the home, not me."

"A likely story."

Standing up, Nikki grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and shook her head. "I've had enough of this. Hollie did everything for you and you're just throwing it back in her face. If anyone around here is ungrateful it's you." She turned to Hollie, her tone softening. "I'm going before I do something that gets me into trouble. Are you coming?"

"Give me two minutes."

Nikki nodded. "Sure. I'll be in the corridor, sweetheart."

As she stalked away along the ward, Anne snorted derisively. "You're softer than I thought, letting that one back into your life and after we protected you from her when you were growing up as well. What happened? Did she tell you that it was me and your Granddad who were in the wrong?"

"No, Nan, I just… it was… she got a job at the school I'm at and we just kinda… decided to work things out."

"I don't know, 'kinda'. I didn't bring you up to speak like that."

"Sorry."

"That woman is trouble, Hollie. I would have thought you'd be clever enough to see that for yourself. Although I suppose they do say 'like mother, like daughter'. Although, I'd say you're worse than your mother. You aren't exactly a granddaughter we could be proud of, are you?"

Hollie's breath seemed to be coming in short bursts and she struggled to fill her lungs. Tears burned in her eyes and she felt as though she was ten-years-old again. Her grandmother looked at her and sighed in exasperation.

"Don't start the waterworks, young lady. They might have worked on your grandfather, but they won't work on me. He was always too soft on you. In our day you'd have felt the back of my hand regularly, with your behaviour."

"Look… I don't want… I came all the way from Scotland to visit you. I spent almost eight hours in a car just to come here and all you can do is have a go at me." Hollie said, finding her voice.

"Hmph… what were you expecting? A royal welcome?"

Hollie bit her lip. Then she stood up. "I'd better go. I'll come back and see you tomorrow, alright?"

"I suppose so." The old woman sniffed. "Go running after Nicola, then."

"Bye, Nan." The teenager said softly, leaning over to kiss her grandmother's cheek again.

As soon as she turned her back and started walking away, she began to shake violently. Hollie was relieved that she hadn't actually shown how she was really feeling in front of her Nan. In the corridor, Nikki pulled her daughter straight into her arms and held her tightly, pressing her lips to the teenager's temple. She closed her eyes, feeling tears prickling behind her own eyelids as she ran over the conversation in her head.

"Come on, let's get out of here." She suggested softly.

Hollie nodded and they made their way out of the hospital, each feeling better as soon as they were out in the freezing night air.


	31. Chapter 31

Nikki phoned Tom as they made their way back to the hotel and found out that he and Josh had gone out. Hollie couldn't quite hide how pleased she was when Nikki suggested that they went out for dinner and saw Tom and Josh back at the hotel later that evening. They headed into the city, laughing and joking as though they were a normal mother and daughter and none of the things that had been on their minds over the past weeks, months and years had even existed.

The next day they went sightseeing and neither Holly nor Nikki mentioned going to visit Anne in the hospital. Slowly, the teenager was beginning to thaw towards Tom. She even let him put an arm around her without complaining while her mother took a photo of him and the two teenagers in front of Buckingham Palace.

On Wednesday, Tom and Josh went on a tour of Wembley Stadium. It was something that Tom had always wanted to see and, although he had no interest in football at all, Josh accompanied him.

Nikki and Hollie went to Oxford Street and spent the afternoon shopping. The teenager had never spent so much money in her life, not that it was her money that she was spending. Hollie only had to look at something and her mother offered to buy it for her. This made her incredibly awkward, her grandmother's words echoing in her mind; guilt gifts.

Finally, Nikki gave up trying to work out the reason for the uneasy expression on Hollie's face and asked her what the matter was. As the teenager reluctantly explained, her mother felt a pang of regret and looked at her seriously.

"Is that really what you think I'm doing?" She asked. "Buying you things to make up for the fact I wasn't around." Hollie didn't answer, unsure whether she thought that or not. "Nothing can make up for the fact that I wasn't there for you. But I'm offering to spend money on you because I want to, not because I feel obliged to."

"OK…" Hollie agreed slowly.

The rest of their shopping trip passed quickly and Hollie no longer worried about asking for things. When they returned to the hotel, both had numerous shopping bags and both Tom and Josh raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"We leave you on your own for one afternoon and you spend enough to fund a small country!" Tom joked and even Hollie smiled.

She glanced at her watch and then looked at her mother. Nikki thought she knew what her daughter was thinking and braced herself for the question that she knew was coming her way.

"Mum… I was wondering… would you mind if I went to see Nan?" She asked hesitantly.

"Are you sure you want to?" Nikki asked, her eyes shining with concern. "After Monday…?"

"I have to." The teenager replied. "If only to ask why she's like she is. I know I probably won't get them, but she owes me some answers."

Nikki hesitated. "I don't think I can come with you, sweetheart." She admitted. "I don't want to see her."

"I don't expect you to."

"What if she gets really nasty? You know what she can be like. I don't want you to be alone."

"I'll go." Josh offered suddenly. The other three turned to look at him. Tom looked surprised, Nikki looked concerned and Hollie looked grateful. She smiled warmly at him.

"Are you sure?" Nikki asked quickly. "My mother can be… she's very judgemental."

"I don't mind. Like you said, Hollie can't go on her own. Besides, after what you said about how she acted with the nurse, she might not be so horrible if I'm there."

So, half an hour later, Hollie led Josh through the corridors to her grandmother's ward. Nervously she leant on the desk and asked if it was alright to go and see her. The same nurse as the other night was there and she smiled with an unspoken question in her eyes. She didn't say anything, however, but let them into the ward.

Anne looked Josh up and down slowly as he smiled and took a seat beside the bed. Hollie leant over and kissed her cheek before sitting down in the closer chair and introducing Josh to her grandmother.

"Just like Nicola…" She muttered, shaking her head.

"Sorry?" Hollie asked, wondering what she meant.

"I'm going to have a great-grandchild dumped on my doorstep soon, am I?"

The girl glanced at Josh and tried to hide her smirk as she realised the conclusion that her Nan had jumped to when she'd introduced him as her friend. He chuckled lightly.

"There's not much chance of that, Mrs Boston." He said with a grin. "I'm gay."

Her expression changed at once and she glared at him. Sensing she was about to say something horrible, Hollie jumped in. "Why don't you go and grab us some drinks, Josh, yeah?"

He nodded after sending her a look, which was clearly meant to ask whether she was sure. When he had disappeared out of sight, Hollie sighed and turned to her grandmother.

"So, how are you feeling today? Any better?"

"What do you think?" Anne snapped, clearly still agitated by Josh's announcement. "Where's your mother?"

"She didn't want to come." Hollie told her honestly. "After Monday night she thought it was better if she stayed away."

"Hmph… Well, that shows you what kind of person she is, doesn't it? Can't even be bothered to come and visit her own mother in hospital. And where were you yesterday, I'd like to know?"

"Sorry, Nan, we went out for dinner and it was too late to visit when we got back." Hollie lied, realising that telling her they had forgotten about her existence would not be the best idea. "We went to this really cute little family-run Italian restaurant in–"

"I expect your little friend went with you?" Anne said snidely.

Hollie nodded, trying to keep her attitude positive. "Josh? Yeah, he did. Actually, he's Mum's boyfriend's son."

Her grandmother snorted. "She's got another new one, has she? Nothing new there; she always had a new boyfriend every week. Another waste of space I expect. And with a gay son too…"

"Tom's alright." The teenager retorted quickly, surprising herself with how quick she was to defend him. "He's Deputy Head at school. I think he really likes Mum. Josh is nice, Nan, so just don't be horrible to him."

"Don't tell me what to do or think."

"I'm not, I just… you don't know them, OK, so please don't judge them."

There was a long pause before Anne spoke again. Hollie found herself wondering where Josh had got to. "You can tell you've been spending a lot of time with your mother. Her bad manners seem to be replacing everything we taught you. Although I can't say I'm surprised, considering the company you used to keep. I hope your choice of friends has improved."

Hollie clenched her fists. "I've got a question." She said quickly, before she lost her nerve. "Why did you stop Mum seeing me? Why did you make me think she didn't care, when all along it was you who was stopping her?"

"That's two questions." Her grandmother grumbled pedantically. "So that's what she's told you, is it?"

"It's the truth, isn't it?" The girl shot back.

The woman looked shifty, shuffling around in the hospital bed and not meeting the teenager's eyes. "We thought it was for the best. She would have been a bad influence. Although apparently you didn't need leading off the straight and narrow, did you? Managed that all by yourself." She smirked, noticing the teenager clenching her fists. "Nicola never cared about anyone but herself. She didn't want you around, not really. A child would have cramped her style, as they say. She wouldn't have been able to go out drinking with her friends or doing whatever it was that she did. Sooner rather than later she'd have got bored of you and dumped you on our doorstep again."

"But she didn't dump me on your doorstep in the first place, did she?" Hollie shot back. "You took me off her. And it wasn't because you wanted to give me a better life; it was because you wanted to punish Mum for not being the perfect daughter you wanted. Admit it; you cared more about seeing her suffering than you did about me. No wonder I went off the straight and narrow." Hollie quoted her words.

"I won't stand for this." Anne huffed indignantly. Her granddaughter could tell from her expression that she had hit the nail on the head. "You will show me some respect. After everything I've done for you..."

"You've just told me everything I needed to know. All those years… all this time I've been blaming Mum, thinking she didn't want me, that she didn't care… but it wasn't like that at all. You've stolen my childhood from both of us."

"Hollie Joanne Evans!" Her grandmother exclaimed angrily. "You will not speak to me like that."

Standing up, the teenager shook her head and smiled weakly. "Don't worry; I won't be speaking to you at all. Bye, Nan."


	32. Chapter 32

As soon as she stepped through the doors from the ward, Hollie sat down hard on the chair against the wall beside her and burst into tears. She sobbed into her hands for a couple of minutes, before she felt someone sitting beside her and put a tentative arm around her shoulders. Glancing up, she found herself looking into Josh's concerned eyes and burst into a fresh wave of tears.

He waited until she had stopped crying, before wiping the tears off her cheeks with the sleeve of his hoody. Trying not to upset her again, he asked what had happened and Hollie repeated the conversation as well as she could remember. Josh was touched that she'd defended him and his Dad to her grandmother. He was also shocked at the way Anne had spoken to and about the girl.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He suggested. Glancing at his watch, he realised that they been there less than twenty minutes. "Dad and Nikki probably won't have eaten yet. We could go and join them if you want?"

Hollie shook her head. "I don't want Mum to see me like this. She'd probably storm in and have another go at Nan. Not that she wouldn't deserve it…"

Josh grinned. "Fancy pizza?"

"Sounds brilliant." She replied, returning his smile. "Let's smuggle it back into the hotel and watch a movie or something. Sound good?"

"Definitely."

They headed out of the hospital and walked back in the direction of the hotel, chatting amicably. Over the last three days the teenagers had spoken to each other almost as much as they had done over the past five months. Josh pointed out a pizza shop and they ducked inside, grateful to be out of the cold for a couple of minutes. Not letting her pay, Josh also refused to let Hollie carry the pizza boxes.

"You know what," she said, grinning at him, "it's obvious you're gay. Most guys wouldn't be so gentlemanly unless they were expecting to get something out of it. It's a shame, really."

Josh laughed and nudged her gently with his shoulder. "It's a pity you're not a guy; you're pretty funny. Besides, I thought you and Kevin had a thing?"

Hollie giggled and shrugged, not answering the question. As they got closer to the hotel, they slid the pizza boxes inside their jackets, laughing as they imagined the state they'd be in when they reached Hollie's room. Nodding as they passed the snooty receptionist at her desk, they started laughing in the lift and raced each other along the corridor to her room. Josh easily won, but he had to wait for her to catch him up, Hollie waving her key card at him as she approached.

After stuffing themselves with pizza, Josh headed to his room to change into his pyjamas, while Hollie put hers on and got ready for bed. He returned a short while later and they curled up on her bed, watching a film. Hollie snuggled up in her new fluffy dressing gown, while Josh stretched out beside her, one arm flung lazily around her shoulders as she rested her head on his chest.

"Hey… Hols…" Josh muttered at a particularly slow part in the middle of the film. "You know what your Nan said about you going off the straight and narrow and your choice of friends… what was she on about?"

Keeping her eyes fixed on the TV, the girl shrugged. "I had my moments when I was younger… I could be a bit wild. My grandparents didn't like my friends; they didn't think they were good enough, just because of where they came from."

Knowing that she was hiding something, but not wanting to push her further, Josh nodded and shrugged. They settled back down to watch the film, although the boy felt Hollie getting tenser and tenser beside him.

"What's wrong?" He asked after a couple of moments.

She sighed. "Just Nan… She knows exactly how to wind me up."

"She didn't like me, much." He grinned.

"Nah… she wouldn't; she's old fashioned and bigoted. She's barely spoken to my Auntie Jo since she realised her 'friend' wasn't just a friend. Having a lesbian in the family isn't exactly something she shouts about from the rooftops. She wouldn't speak to me for a week when I told her she was ridiculous."

"I didn't know Nikki had a sister."

Hollie shook her head. "Jo's her cousin, but they're as close as sisters."

"I've found more out about you tonight than I ever have before." Josh said, almost thinking out loud.

"You know what?" The girl murmured as the film on the television came to an end and the credits rolled.

"What?" He asked, looking down at her.

"It wouldn't be so bad if you ended up as my brother."

Josh smirked. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I agree."

Hollie laughed and punched him lightly on his chest, dragging herself off the bed and over to the television. She ejected the DVD they'd just watched and put it back in its case, before holding up two more for Josh to choose from. He considered the options before pointing at the one in her left hand, just as someone knocked on the hotel room door.

"I'll get it." He offered as Hollie dealt with the DVD player. She nodded, pushing the tray back in, before going into the en-suit and closing the door.

Josh opened the door and smiled. Nikki looked a little confused to see him there in his pyjamas and her gaze flicked quickly to the room number. "Isn't this…?"

"Hollie's room?" He finished, nodding. "Yeah, come in."

He stood aside as the woman moved past him. She noticed the rumpled bed sheets and raised an eyebrow, just as the bathroom door opened and Hollie appeared, redoing her hair in a messy bun.

"Hey…" The teenager said softly, stifling a yawn. "How was your evening?"

"Lovely." Nikki nodded, suspiciously. "How was yours?"

Hollie raised her eyebrows and smirked, reading her mother's mind as she glanced between the teenagers and the bed. "Are you mental?" She asked, stifling a giggle. "Josh is gay, Mum, remember?"

"I know!" Nikki replied immediately, her tone defensive. "Did I say anything?"

"You didn't need to." Josh told her, grinning.

"Josh bought me pizza and cheered me up after possibly my last conversation with Nan." Hollie told her. Seeing the questioning look on her mother's face she sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "I told her a few home truths, a little past their due date. She wasn't best pleased and I said that it was the last she'd see of me. I just had enough of her… I had enough of her slagging you off."

Nikki wrapped Hollie in her arms and kissed her head. "Hey, you didn't need to do that for me."

"I did." The teenager said. "She pretty much admitted that she was using me to punish you; not in so many words, but she didn't deny it."

"Are you going to tell her what you said about me and Dad?" Josh asked, grinning wickedly at the girl.

Hollie rolled her eyes. "I might have told Nan that Tom was OK and Josh was really nice, so she had no right to judge them."

"And what did you say about four minutes ago?" He pressed, grinning broadly.

"What did you say?" She shot back, smirking.

"I said that having Hollie as a sister wouldn't be so bad." Josh informed Nikki with a shrug. He blushed slightly. "What with you and Dad… you know…"

"And I think the same."

Nikki looked between them, taken aback. "I'm going to leave you to it before anything stranger happens."

Kissing them both on their foreheads, the woman left the room, wondering what was going on. The teenagers hadn't disliked each other before tonight, but they hadn't been at the stage of watching films and eating pizza in their pyjamas, let alone considering playing happy families. Nikki hurried back to her room to fill Tom in on the latest development.

When she'd left, the teenagers resumed their positions on Hollie's bed and settled down to watch the film. The girl was nearly asleep when a thought occurred to her and she turned to look at Josh. He glanced at her questioningly, sensing that she was about to suggest something.

"You know tomorrow is our last full day here?" She asked.

Josh raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"What d'you say we make our own plans and leave Mum and Tom to sort themselves out?"

"That sounds perfect." Josh agreed. "I really couldn't deal with spending another day with my Dad and your Mum being all loved up and gross."

"Brilliant!" She grinned, settling herself back down into the crook of his arm. "So we'll spend it together; the screwed-up girl with a psycho Nan and the gay boy with schizophrenia on a non-date day out. Sounds perfect to me."

Josh laughed and tightened his arm around her slightly. Under the jokes, he could tell that she was still hurting after her argument with her grandmother. If she wanted to talk about it, he would listen. But for now he would just be there for her. By the time the film ended, both teenagers were fast asleep, curled up together on Hollie's bed.


	33. Chapter 33

The next day, the four of them went down to breakfast together. Both Nikki and Tom were slightly taken aback by how much like a family they were behaving.

Josh had gone back to his own room when he'd woken up and both teenagers had been showered and dressed by the time their respective parents had knocked on their doors a while later.

"Will you two behave?" Nikki hissed over the breakfast table the next morning. Josh had been in the process of flicking cocoa pops at Hollie who was sitting opposite him, giggling and blocking them with her placemat. "You're acting like five-year-olds."

The teenagers glanced at each other and laughed, much to their parents' frustration.

"What has got into the pair of you?" Tom asked.

"Nothing." Josh told him, pulling himself together. Beside his father, Hollie wrinkled her nose and took a sip of orange juice, calming down quickly. "Sorry…"

"Listen," Nikki started, "we were thinking we might go up Parliament Hill this morning to see the view and then maybe go on a river tour this afternoon. Then this evening we were planning on–"

"Josh and I were thinking that maybe we'd do our own thing today?" Hollie said, exchanging a look with the boy.

"Why?" Tom asked, looking between them in slight confusion.

His son raised an eyebrow. "We thought you might appreciate a day to yourselves."

"We don't want to play gooseberry." Hollie said bluntly.

"It would be a bit weird." Josh agreed. "It'll be far more romantic if you haven't got two teenagers trailing around after you."

Nikki and Tom exchanged a look. Then Tom shrugged. "If you're sure?"

"You will be alright, won't you?" Nikki asked anxiously.

"Course; I lived in London, remember?" Hollie reminded her with a grin. "I'm damn sure I can take care of myself and I'm sure I can look after Joshie too."

The boy kicked her lightly under the table and pulled a face. She grinned, excusing herself and heading towards the lifts. Before she'd taken half a dozen steps, Josh jogged past her sticking his tongue out. With a shriek, Hollie raced after him as he sped up.

Still at the table with a clear view of what had just happened, Nikki and Tom looked at each other in confusion, wondering what had got into their children. Nikki couldn't say she wasn't relieved to see Hollie like that. It was the first time she had seen the seventeen-year-old let her hair down and completely relax. Hollie usually seemed to be on edge, worrying about what she was doing. Acting like a child showed that she was happy and comfortable and that made Nikki happier than she could say.

Tom, likewise, was pleased to see his son so happy. Josh had been moping around for a couple of days and his father had been worried that his mental health had taken a turn for the worst. The man was also relieved that Hollie seemed to have thawed towards him. Nikki hadn't mentioned it but he knew that, if it came down to it, she would have chosen her daughter over him however much that hurt her.

After a couple of moments of silence, Tom turned back to face Nikki, raising an eyebrow. "Well that's a turn up for the books."

"Tell me about it." She replied, shaking her head and taking a sip of her coffee. "Maybe things are finally working out?"

"Don't say that! You'll jinx it!" He laughed, leaning over the table to kiss her.

x-x

"Anywhere in particular that you want to see?" Hollie asked Josh as they headed out of the hotel and in the direction of the tube station. She pushed her arm through his as they walked, steering him silently through the streets.

"Not really… we did most of the things I wanted to see the other day with Dad and Nikki." He told her with a shrug. "Actually, what about the London Eye?"

"In that case I think we need to get on the District line." She mused, more to herself than him.

When they reached the tube station, Josh stood back and let Hollie plan their route. He watched as she traced it with her finger, memorising where they needed to get on and off and which lines they needed to switch between. He, his Dad and Nikki had been impressed by her ability to remember what they needed to do during their travels, but Hollie had just shrugged and said that you got used to it.

"OK, we take the District Line to Westminster, switch to the Jubilee Line and get off at Waterloo." She said, turning to him with a grin. "Simple."

"I'll take your word for it."

Laughing, Hollie led the way onto the platform and waited for the tube to arrive. She glanced at Josh as they pushed their way onto the train. She had watched him before as they stood in the crowded carriages, being jostled from all sides. Josh looked warily around them, nervous of the proximity of the strangers. Hollie slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

"It's alright." She assured him softly.

He looked at her and smiled weakly, not saying anything. Before they knew it, the train stopped at Westminster and Hollie pulled Josh out onto the platform, grabbing his hand again as they made their way to the platform for the Jubilee Line. He clasped her fingers gratefully, clinging on as she dodged between the crowds expertly, pulling him behind her.

In a surprisingly short time, the teenagers found themselves looking up at the giant wheel that gave views all over the city. The queue wasn't too bad and, before long, they were being shown into one of the glass pods. Hollie had been on the London Eye a couple of times before, but to Josh it was a brand new experience. He gazed out breathlessly, his eyes wide with awe. The girl grinned as she watched him, rather than the view.

"That was amazing!" He enthused as they stepped out of the pod and headed along the river.

Hollie laughed and leant on the railings, looking at him. "Where to next?"

"I don't know… anywhere you'd suggest?"

Glancing at the time on her phone, she looked at him mischievously. "Pub?"

"You're seventeen, Hols."

She grinned even more broadly. "And that, Joshua, is why you're buying."

x-x

When Nikki and Tom returned to the hotel that evening, they went straight to their children's rooms, knocking on the doors. When neither got any response, both pulled out their mobiles and dialled. Two ringtones could be heard, one from each bedroom, but still there was no response.

On the fourth attempt, Hollie finally answered. "S'matter?"

"Hollie… can you open the door and let us in?"

"Why?" The teenager asked, before the call ended.

From the hallway, Tom and Nikki could hear the sound of the girl moving towards her door. There was a loud bang, a thud and then a giggle, before a second voice shushed her. Glancing at each other in concern, they wondered who was in the room with Hollie. They assumed that Josh was in his own room, considering his mobile was in there and neither of the teenagers went anywhere without the devices almost surgically attached to them at all times.

After a couple of minutes, a lot more giggling and shushing, the hotel room opened. Nikki grasped hold of a very unsteady looking Hollie, while Tom barged into the room, ready to throw whoever was in there out.

"It's just Josh." He called over his shoulder, relief plain in his voice.

"Who d'you think it was?" Hollie slurred, looking confused.

"Is he as drunk as she is?" Nikki called, manhandling her daughter inside.

Tom nodded, crouching on the floor beside his son, who appeared to have fallen asleep. No sooner had Nikki laid her daughter on the bed, than Hollie leapt up and sprinted to the bathroom, leaning over the toilet and retching loudly.

With a sigh, her mother glanced at Tom, moving to hold the teenager's hair out of the way. "This isn't exactly the night I had planned."

He raised an eyebrow. "Me either."

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading/reviewing guys! :D**_

_**PondGirl11 and WaterlooRoadJoshFan, I totally agree! Josh is gorge!**_


	34. Chapter 34

"I feel like shit." Hollie muttered the next morning. She was sitting on the curb outside the hotel with her head in her hands.

"You don't look much better." Josh joked, before wincing and clutching his head.

Nikki looked down at them in amusement. Tom had gone to collect the car and she was watching the two teenagers with satisfaction. Their parents had spent the night before rubbing their backs and holding hair out of the way as they were sick and tucking them back into bed afterwards. The hangovers they were currently suffering were well-deserved, as far as she was concerned.

"Come on you two." She smiled as Tom pulled up next to them. "The sooner we get on the road, the sooner the next seven hours will be over."

As one, the teenagers groaned. The thought of spending more than seven hours in the back of Tom's car was something that didn't appeal in the slightest to either of them. Once they were packed into the car and heading back up North, both Hollie and Josh settled themselves down and closed their eyes. Before they'd even joined the M6, both teenagers were asleep.

Nikki glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping figures and laughed softly. "Aww! Don't they look sweet?"

"Shame it's only when they've passed out." Tom quipped, reaching out and resting his hand on her knee.

x-x

"How's your Nan?" Scout asked when Hollie collapsed on her bed later that night. "How was London?"

"London was fun; I think I've finally decided that I like Tom. I definitely like Josh; he's great." The brunette replied with a sigh.

"So? What's wrong?"

"My Nan… she's a psycho!"

Scout laughed, dropping on the bed beside her friend and staring at her. "What happened?"

"She's just so difficult. Mum made the effort to go and see her and she was just rude. She wasn't even grateful for the Christmas presents I sent her. Nan just complained and bitched the whole time we were visiting her. I snapped and told her it was the last time she'd see me."

"Well… if she's as bad as that you're well rid." Scout pointed out with a shrug. "Besides, your other Nan sounds well nice."

"You can't just replace one Nan with another, Scout." Hollie replied, turning her head to look at the blonde and smiling. "It doesn't work like that!"

"Yeah, alright… but it's her loss, not yours."

"I guess…"

Squeezing her friend's hand, the blonde nodded. "It is."

x-x

"Welcome back, you lot. I hope you all had a good Christmas and are looking forward to getting lots of work done this term?" Nikki asked in the Year 12's first lesson back after the holidays. There was a groan at the mention of work and the woman smiled. "Right, I hope you've all read _Spies_, because we're going to jump straight in." She perched on the edge of her desk and looked expectantly around the room. "Simple question to start; who are the characters are in the novel?"

Imogen raised her hand at once. "The main character is Stephen Wheatley."

"And what's unusual about that character?"

"Well, it's written from Stephen's point of view as he remembers events that happened fifty years before during the Second World War." The Scottish girl replied quickly. "So there are two versions of Stephen in the novel; a young boy and an old man."

"Right." Nikki nodded. "What other characters do we have? Hollie?"

"Keith Hayward, Stephen's best friend."

There was a whisper around the room as the teenager spoke and she blushed slightly, feeling all eyes focused towards her. Hollie glanced towards her mother who smiled and quickly continued the discussion, getting information for other teenagers around the room.

"Isn't it weird?" Kevin asked, leaning back in his seat as they started working on the task Nikki had set them a while later.

"What?" Hollie asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked at him.

He shrugged. "You know, having your Mum as a teacher."

"It's no weirder than you living with Mr Chalk." She replied, shrugging too. "In fact, it's less weird because you're not even related to him. Anyway, Mrs Mulgrew teaches Connor, Mr Clarkson teaches Josh and Mrs Diamond teaches Madi… I'm not the only one with a parent as their teacher."

"Fair enough." Kevin agreed. "Come on then, what was the question?"

"Make a list of the different emotions Stephen registers after being told that Keith's mother is a German Spy and explain why he says that he feels like that." She told him, rolling her eyes. "It's on the board, brainbox."

"Easy."

Hollie grinned and leant back in her own chair, folding her arms and looking sideways at him. "Go on then if you're so clever."

"Kevin, Hollie, I hope you're talking about the question I set you." Nikki called from the front of the class, raising an eyebrow as she took in the teenagers sitting side by side looking as though neither had their minds focused on the task.

"Yes, Miss." They chorused, instantly leaning forwards and picking up their pens.

When the woman's attention had returned to what she was doing, Hollie smirked at the teenage boy beside her. "Go on then, what emotions does Stephen feel?"

"Surprise, excitement, regret that it is Mrs Hayward because he liked her and jealousy because Stephen thinks his family are boring in comparison to Keith's." He listed quickly.

"What about relief?" Hollie suggested, scribbling down what he'd said.

"Relief?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Relief that it's Mrs Hayward that's the spy, not Mr Hayward."

"Nice one." Kevin grinned. "We make a good team."

"Do we now?"

"Yeah. D'you fancy going out sometime."

"Going out?" Hollie asked, arching an eyebrow and hiding a grin. "As in group outing?"

He frowned at her slightly. "No… as in date?"

"I'll think about it." She told him with a smirk, looking down at her novel quickly and picking it up, her eyes scanning the writing on the page in front of her. "What were you thinking?"

"Umm…" Kevin seemed thrown by her direct question, blinking rapidly as Hollie looked up and met his eyes. "Cinema? Pizza?"

"Sounds thrilling."

"Or…"

"I'm joking, Kevin." Hollie told him with a grin. "Sounds good. Wednesday?"

"Two for one tickets? I like your thinking." He replied, laughing.

"Kevin, Hollie!" Nikki called again. "Concentrate or I'll split you up."

"We're not even together, yet." Kevin told her jokily, earning himself a sharp kick under the table from the teenage girl beside him.

"Shut up!" Hollie hissed, blushing.

Nikki sent them both a strange look, before pulling herself together. "Right, let's hear your list then Kevin."

* * *

**_A/N: _Spies _is a novel by Michael Frayn which I studied when I was in year 12 English Literature. It's actually pretty good. :)_**

**_The whole, "As in group outing?" "No, as in date." thing actually happened to me. But I wasn't teasing like Hollie is... I was actually trying to get out of the date because the guy was a bit of a stalker! That day I discovered that if you pretend not to realise someone's asking you out you can get them to pay for you cinema ticket and hang out with your mates at the same time! Haha! ;)_**

**_As always, thank you for reading and reviewing! You guys are awesome!_**


	35. Chapter 35

On Wednesday evening Kevin and Hollie went to the cinema, as planned. Rising above the teasing from their friends, the girl realised that she was more nervous about the date than she'd ever expected she would be. Kevin was totally different from the type of boys she usually went for and she didn't know how to act. After a while, however, they both relaxed and acted exactly as they had done around each other before either had even considered going on a date.

The film, a typically jumpy horror movie, was chosen by Kevin. Hollie decided that, in future, she would be choosing the films that they went to see. Then she smiled slightly at the realisation that in her mind they would be going to see more films together. When it ended they went for a pizza before Kevin walked the girl back to the School House in time for her curfew.

On the doorstep they paused, both suddenly nervous again. Hollie mentally told herself off, reminding herself that it wasn't even their first kiss. As she sensed Kevin hesitating, the girl took the lead, leaning in and kissing him for a couple of minutes before turning and going inside. Closing the door behind her, Hollie smiled before heading quickly up the stairs.

x-x

The next week passed quickly and Kevin and Hollie's relationship soon faded as the main topic of common room gossip. Natalie had been to visit her younger sister at the weekend and Hollie had guiltily lied to her mother about the reason she couldn't go out for lunch with her, blaming Scout and prior arrangements. Nikki had been understanding, inviting her over for Sunday lunch instead, which the teenager had instantly accepted.

The reason Nikki had wanted her daughter to come round was to ask her whether she wanted to move in. Hollie had been totally surprised by the proposal, but instantly agreed. They agreed to leave it until the next weekend, but both were excited and spent the next week impatiently waiting for Saturday to arrive.

On Wednesday of that week Kevin and Hollie had gone on their second date. This time the girl had decided that she was choosing the film. The comedy she picked wasn't particularly funny, although nether teenager saw much of it anyway. On the way home, Kevin kept his arm wrapped tightly around her, glancing at Hollie every couple of seconds as though he thought she was going to disappear.

Hollie, however, was more distracted by a car that appeared outside the cinema and then seemed to be following them. Kevin laughed, telling her that she was imagining things. Nodding, she agreed that she was just being paranoid.

"Have a nice time?" Maggie asked as the teenager closed the front door a while later, a grin on her face.

"Lovely, thank you." She agreed, unable to stop smiling.

The House Mistress grinned back. "He's a nice boy, isn't he?"

"He is."

Laughing, Maggie ushered the teenager up the stairs. "Go on. Off to bed with you, pet."

Crossing to the window in her bedroom to draw the curtains, the teenager paused as she spotted her boyfriend heading away down the road. She smiled again, watching Kevin's progress away from the School House. Her gaze fell on a car and she frowned slightly, convinced that it was the same car she'd already seen several times that evening.

Making a mental note of the make and colour, Hollie wasn't quick enough to memorise the licence plate number before it drove out of sight. She wondered whether she was being paranoid like Kevin had suggested. It was odd, though, she thought. Maybe it wasn't even the same car, but Hollie couldn't shake the feeling that it was.

She kept her eyes open for any sight of it over the next few days but there was nothing. By the weekend when she moved in with her mother, the teenager had convinced herself that she was just seeing things. It almost definitely hadn't been the same car. There must have been loads of dark blue Fords around; it wasn't exactly uncommon.

"You got everything?" Nikki asked, looking at the contents of her car. All of Hollie's things fitted into the boot easily. "Hols?"

"What?" The teenager jumped slightly, tearing her gaze away from the road where she thought she'd seen the car again.

"Have you got everything?"

"Oh, yeah." Hollie smiled and nodded. "I'm just gonna…"

Nikki nodded and moved around to get into the driver's seat, allowing her daughter to go and say her goodbyes in private. It wasn't as though she was going very far or that she wouldn't be seeing them again, but the woman understood why it was such a big thing for her daughter to be leaving the House. She waited patiently until her daughter got into the car beside her, before smiling and driving them home.

The weekend progressed almost perfectly. Hollie spent her time half dancing with excitement and half worrying that Nikki would suddenly announce that she'd had enough and was taking her back to the School House. But that didn't happen and by Monday morning both women had fallen instinctively into a typical mother-daughter relationship.

"Hollie! Get up!" Nikki shouted, leaning round the bedroom door for the third time.

Pulling the covers further over her head, Hollie groaned and mumbled something indistinguishable. Her mother sighed and moved forwards, wrenching the duvet off her and leaving the teenager screeching and shivering on the bed as she went downstairs.

"I've got a staff meeting tonight." Nikki informed her daughter, handing the teenager a mug of tea as Hollie appeared in the kitchen a while later. "You can wait around or," she held out her hand and smiled, "you can come home on your own."

Taking the key she was being offered, Hollie grinned. "Really? Thanks, Mum."

"Well this is your home now." Nikki reminded her. "You're going to need to be able to get in and out when I'm not here."

"True."

Nikki smiled and moved to stack her plate and mug in the dishwasher. "Hurry up if you want a lift because I'm leaving in… five minutes."

Nodding, the teenager hurriedly drank her tea and stuffed a piece of toast into her mouth. Nikki raised an eyebrow at her, smirking and shaking her head as she moved away to gather up her things. Ten minutes later they were both ready to leave.

"I'll see you later." The English teacher said softly as they climbed out of the car and headed towards the building. She was conscious of not wanting to embarrass her daughter as the teenager's friends headed towards them across the playground.

"See you." Hollie agreed, kissing her mother on her cheek before heading away to join her friends, much to Nikki's surprise.

"So?" Scout demanded, slipping her arm through Hollie's as soon as the brunette was close enough. "What's it like properly living with your Mum?"

"It's great. She's great. I can't believe I was such a cow to her."

"You had good reason." Imogen pointed out, linking her arm with Hollie's free one.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad we sorted things out."

The girls stopped as Kevin, Phoenix and Connor joined them. Scout and Phoenix rolled their eyes as the two couples immediately greeted each other warmly.

"Alright, break it up." Scout muttered, rolling her eyes as Hollie poked her tongue out and deliberately kissed Kevin again just to annoy her. "What I want to know, Hols, is when you're having a party."

"Yeah, you need a house warming party." Phoenix agreed.

"I think I should leave it a while." Hollie replied, raising an eyebrow. "I don't actually want to fall out with Mum so soon after moving in."

"You could at least ask her, couldn't you?" Scout pressed, unwilling to give up on the idea.

Sighing, Hollie nodded. "Fine, I'll ask her about a party."


	36. Chapter 36

To Hollie's immense surprise, Nikki was fine with the idea of her daughter having some friends over for a party, as long as she agreed the guest list with her first. Nikki even suggested that she went round to Tom's for the evening so that they could have the house to themselves. As it turned out, however, they were both asked last minute to go on a year nine weekend trip to Edinburgh on the weekend Hollie had arranged for her friends to come over, so the teenager was going to be home alone anyway.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Nikki demanded on Friday morning as she rushed around making sure she had everything she needed for the trip before they left for school.

Hollie nodded, taking a bite from her toast. "I'll be fine, Mum, stop fussing."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not going to change my mind just because you keep asking." The teenager replied with a smile.

"Fine, OK."

"Besides, you cleared it with Maggie for everyone to stay over tonight and Josh's gonna stay here tomorrow night." Hollie informed her mother, not meeting her eyes.

The truth was that when the teenager had found out that Nikki was going to be away all weekend, she had phoned Natalie and invited her to stay over. The older girl had been coming to visit on Saturday anyway, so it made sense for her to come for the whole weekend. Natalie's train got in at almost half past ten that evening and Hollie had already told her friends that her sister was coming.

"Right, yeah, let's go before I think of anything else I need." Nikki commanded.

The teenager grinned and loaded her breakfast things into the dishwasher, before following her mother into the hallway and grabbing her school bag. Rolling her eyes as the woman dashed back up the stairs for something or other that she'd forgotten, Hollie leant against the car and read a text from her sister, grinning to herself as she did so.

"Kevin?"

Glancing up guiltily, the teenager blinked at her mother. "Huh?"

"Is that Kevin? Judging from the grin on your face I don't want to know what that message says."

"Oh… it's nothing bad." Hollie assured her quickly, blushing slightly at what the woman was implying. "Just… stuff…"

"I don't want to know."

"No, really, it's nothing…"

Nikki grinned and got in the car. "OK, OK."

The morning was spent getting excited about that night. When Hollie finished for the day at lunchtime, she walked home with Josh and Madi to tidy up before they could start setting up for the party. On the way, she stopped, staring at a car intently.

"What's up?" Madi asked, frowning at her friend.

"That car… I've seen it like four times this week." Hollie replied quickly.

"So?"

"Like I've seen it outside the house like four times."

The blonde laughed. "What, like it's following you?"

"I don't know…"

"That's stupid." Madi told her bluntly. "There must be loads of blue Fords around here."

Hollie nodded slowly. "Yeah… yeah, you're right."

As they got started on sorting things out, the brunette seventeen-year-old put all thoughts of the car out of her mind. By the time their friends started arriving, Madi and Josh were already quite tipsy and Hollie was on her way there. She almost forgot that she needed to go to the station to pick Natalie up. Kevin reminded her and together they left the party. Natalie laughed as she saw her younger sister being supported by her boyfriend on the platform, accepting the tight hug from the teenager and smiling warmly at Kevin.

Nothing was broken and the house remained in an almost acceptable state. By the time her mother arrived home on Sunday night, Natalie had left and everything was neat and tidy once more. Nikki raised an eyebrow at the fact that the house looked better than it had before she left, but didn't comment as Hollie handed her a mug of coffee and asked about the trip. They curled up together on the sofa and watched a film, happy to be back together again.

When Hollie went up to bed several hours later, she glanced out of the window as she was drawing the curtains. Frowning, she spotted the blue car parked across the road. Turning away from the window, she ran down the stairs to point it out to her mother, only to discover that it had gone. Kissing her on the head, Nikki sent her daughter to bed, telling her that it was nothing.

x-x

The week passed slowly, with Hollie's party being the main topic of conversation for the sixth formers for a couple of days. The gossip even found its way around the staff room, with Nikki hearing more about what had gone on there than she did from her daughter. She made a mental note to ask about some of the things she heard.

As she was walking home on Thursday, a car drew up on the other side of the road and stopped a little way ahead of her. Hollie paused, her heart thudding wildly in her chest as she recognised the blue Ford she'd seen around over the last couple of weeks. Taking a deep breath, the teenager sped up, pushing her bag more securely onto her shoulder. The car doors opened and two men emerged, glancing around for a moment.

"Hols?"

Hollie didn't think she'd ever been so grateful to hear Josh's voice before in her life. She smiled at him and turned, seeing the car drive away out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, what's up?"

"Dad wanted to know whether you and Nikki wanted to come round to ours for dinner tonight." He told her, coming to a halt beside her. "I think he's gonna ask her."

"Yeah, sounds good." She agreed, changing direction and heading towards their house instead.

Hollie wasn't sure whether to tell Josh about the car or not. So far every time she'd mentioned it everyone had told her she was just being paranoid. The car coming to a stop and the men getting out had really shaken her and her imagination was in overdrive thinking about what might have happened if Josh hadn't arrived at that moment.

"So what d'you think?" He asked, dragging her attention back to the conversation.

"What? Sorry…"

"I was wondering whether you fancied going to a gig on the ninth." Josh repeated his question. "It's that new indie band I was telling you about the other day."

"Oh, the one with the fit lead singer?" Hollie asked, grinning as he blushed. "That's next Saturday, right? Nat's coming down, but I'm guessing it won't start 'til after she's left."

"Nah, it starts at eight." He agreed. "Have you told Nikki about Natalie yet?"

The girl sighed and pushed her arm through Josh's, leaning her head against his shoulder. "No… it's too hard. Maybe I should have told her straight away."

"Maybe next week when Nat's here you should just tell her. Introduce them or something. It'll be fine."

Acknowledging that he might have a point, Hollie decided to take Josh's advice and take Natalie to meet her mother when she came to visit again. Until then she decided to keep her mouth shut about it.

Tom had cooked dinner and they all got on well. Hollie felt guilty that she had given him such a hard time before. When they'd finished the meal, Josh and Hollie did the washing up, before going into the living room to join their parents and watch a movie.

"Listen… Nikki and I were talking when you were in the kitchen and we were wondering how you'd feel about us all living here together." Tom said when the credits rolled at the end of the film. He glanced between the teenagers warily, as though wondering which one would explode first.

Hollie thought for a moment. She had wondered whether this conversation would happen soon and had thought that she'd be annoyed or even angry when it did. But the more she thought about it, the more she found that she liked the idea. Tom and Josh might not actually be related to her in any way, but the four of them was the closest thing to a proper family that she'd ever had.

"Hol?" Nikki coaxed gently, obviously thinking that her daughter was about to start hurling abuse or shouting at them. "Josh?"

"I…"

"It's fine with me." Josh said, cutting Hollie off and shrugging.

With all eyes on her, the girl smiled and shrugged too. "And me."

"Really?" Nikki and Tom chorused, neither looking as though they could believe what their children had just said.

Glancing at Josh, Hollie nodded. "Yeah… it'll be like… we're a real family."

"Great!" Tom enthused, reaching over and giving her a hug. "Brilliant!"

As they drove home a little later, after deciding that they'd get things sorted as soon as possible for the move, Nikki turned to her daughter. "Are you really alright with moving in with Tom and Josh?"

Hollie nodded. "Honestly, Mum, I'm really excited about it."

"Good." Her mother replied with a contented sigh. "Because if you weren't I'd have said no. You know that, don't you? You always come first, Hols."

The teenager grinned and reached out to squeeze her mother's hand which was resting on the gear stick. "I know."

* * *

_**A/N: If you hadn't guessed, Josh and Madi haven't left Waterloo Road ;)**_


	37. Chapter 37

"Ribena or blackberry and apple squash?" Nikki asked on Saturday afternoon as she and Hollie wandered round the supermarket.

"Ribena." Hollie answered instantly from her position leaning against the handle of the trolley. "Why do we need all this healthy stuff? Only you eat it. I know for a fact that Tom and Josh don't eat healthy stuff like this either."

"Well then that's going to change." Her mother replied with a grin. "I love a challenge."

They returned to their comfortable silence for a while, moving between the aisles and steadily filling the trolley between them. Hollie sneaked several unhealthy, but incredibly tasty, treats in when Nikki wasn't looking. The multipack bag of crisps, Coco Pops and box of coke cans were quickly ejected, much to the teenager's annoyance. Hollie grinned to herself as her mother overlooked the packets of Jaffa Cakes and Oreos and the large bar of Diary Milk that she'd hidden underneath the mass of vegetables.

That morning the two females had taken some of their things round to Tom and Josh's house and the plan was for them to stay there for the weekend; hence the big shop. Hollie was a lot more relaxed about the move than her mother who was panicking that something would go wrong. Personally the teenager was looking forward to having the males around permanently. Since she had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and got to know Tom properly, Hollie realised that she really liked him. He made her mother happy and that was, really, all she could ask.

"Tom and Josh are going to have a shock about how girly their house is suddenly going to become, aren't they?" Hollie mused as she pushed the trolley slowly across the car park towards her mother's car.

Nikki chuckled, pushing her purse into her bag and searching for her keys. "Definitely. Although I think how clean it's suddenly going to be might be more of a surprise."

Hollie started laughing as her mother winked and unlocked the car, opening the boot and starting to load the shopping into the back. Returning the trolley to the shelter, the teenager made her way back to the car quickly. She had just strapped herself into the passenger seat when she let out a small gasp.

"What?" Nikki demanded, immediately worried at the expression on Hollie's face.

"That car… it's the one I saw outside the house last week. I swear it's been following me."

"Really?"

"Don't laugh!" The girl snapped, pouting at her mother and swatting at her quickly. "I'm not joking. The other day it stopped and two men got out. But then Josh caught up with me and they drove off."

"Sweetheart, I'm sure it was nothing. It's not exactly an uncommon car is it?"

"That's what Madi said."

Nikki sighed and reached out, squeezing Hollie's knee. "Look, if it's bothering you write down the license plate number and I'll phone Jo later and ask her to check it out, OK?"

Nodding, Hollie scrabbled around in her mother's bag for a notebook and pen and copied the numbers and letters down carefully. Slightly reassured, she smiled at Nikki. The woman shook her head and sighed, obviously not taking her daughter's fears seriously, before driving them in the direction of Tom and Josh's house.

Later that evening, with Josh and Hollie upstairs in Josh's room watching a film, Nikki snuggled closer to Tom and sighed. She glanced at the notebook on the coffee table that held the license plate number of the blue car that had unnerved her daughter so much that afternoon. Shaking her head, she pushed it back into her bag without calling her cousin like she had told Hollie she would.

"What?" Tom asked, sensing that something was bothering her.

"Nothing." Nikki replied quickly. Then she sighed again. "Do you think Hollie might be right about that car?"

"Who would be following her, though?"

The woman shrugged. "I don't know."

"Look, let's just wait and see if she sees it again. If she does then maybe you should speak to your cousin just to be safe."

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." Nikki nodded, unable to shake the nagging feeling that she should call Jo anyway.

x-x

Hollie and Nikki stayed at Tom and Josh's all weekend. On Monday night they returned to their own house but, suddenly, it seemed too quiet and empty. This realisation made them want to move properly as soon as possible. The teenage girl couldn't believe how right being part of a family felt. On Tuesday night Tom and Josh stayed at Nikki's house to help them pack up more of their belongings.

"Are you sure you don't want a lift?" Tom asked the next morning as he and Nikki rushed about gathering their things.

Hollie shook her head, chewing her toast at the kitchen table. "Nah, I'm meeting Scout and the others outside the School House. I'll see you at school."

Nodding, he moved to the front door. After dropping a kiss on the top of her daughter's head, Nikki followed, closing the front door behind her. Hollie heard the car engine leap into life and then silence as it pulled off the drive and away down the road.

Josh was still in bed in the spare room, so the teenager loaded the dishwasher and gathered her things before leaving too and heading along the road towards the corner where she would wait for her friends. She plugged her headphones into her phone as she made her way along the pavement, listening to the beat of the music.

Taken by surprise, she didn't have time to react as someone grabbed her from behind and bundled her into a car. The door was slammed and there was a screech of tyres as the car roared away.

* * *

_**A/N: Oooh! Cliffhanger! ;)**_


	38. Chapter 38

_**A/N: Two updates in one day? I felt mean leaving you on such a cliffhanger and I know that I would have murdered me if I was you! I am that impatient!**_

_**However... this chapter might not make you less frustrated at me! Haha! I promise I'll put the next chapter up tomorrow... not that that'll be less frustrating either!**_

_**Oh, I feel horrible... ;)**_

* * *

Nikki waited until the last of her year 8 class left after the bell rang to signal break time on Wednesday morning before reaching into the top drawer of her desk and pulling out a packet of painkillers. She popped a couple out of the foil and swallowed them quickly, washing the pills down with a swig of her now cold coffee. Pulling a face, Nikki stood up and moved to pile the worksheets the twelve and thirteen-year-olds had handed in as they'd passed. She wasn't sure why they'd chosen today, but the year 8's, not to mention the year 9 class before them, had been unusually rowdy.

A sharp tap on the classroom door almost made her jump. Turning, she saw her daughter's friends standing outside and smiled, inviting them in. "Morning, girls. What can I do for you?"

"We were just wondering if Hollie's ill, Miss." Scout said, shifting her bag on her shoulder. "Just… she didn't turn up this morning and her mobile is switched off."

Frowning slightly, Nikki glanced between the teenagers as though trying to work out whether they were winding her up. "Hollie didn't turn up?"

"No, Miss. We waited until nearly twenty to, but then we had to go."

Pulling out her mobile, the woman dialled Josh's number, knowing that he would still be at her house because he didn't have a lesson until just before lunch. "Hi, Josh… is Hollie there? Are you sure she's not in her room? OK… no… no, don't worry. It's probably nothing. Yeah… see you later."

"Miss?" Imogen queried, taking in her anxious expression.

Grabbing her jacket and bag from the desk, Nikki turned to face the teenagers once more. "Have any of you got frees now?" As the teenagers shook their heads, the woman silently cursed. "I'm going to wish I never said this, but is one of you willing to skip your next lesson and come with me to look for Hollie?"

"I will." Scout agreed at once.

Imogen looked uneasy. "Miss Boston… are you sure Hollie's not just skiving?"

"Hollie?" The teenager in question's mother looked bemused by the suggestion. "Why would Hollie be skiving?"

The teenagers exchanged a glance, something that was not lost on the woman. After what seemed to be a silent battle, Scout sighed. "We weren't supposed to say anything… we promised Hollie we wouldn't tell you…"

Nikki's heart sank. "What's she hiding from me?"

"She just didn't want you to get upset." Imogen told her quickly, making her teacher's heart sink even further.

"Just tell me."

"A while ago Hollie's sister turned up at the School House looking for her." Scout admitted.

"Her sister?"

"Yeah, Natalie Williams."

Nikki took several deep breaths as memories flooded back to haunt her at the mention of Hollie's father's older daughter. "How long ago is a while?"

"The beginning of December." Scout admitted with a wince.

"The… that's… that's two months ago."

"I know… I'm sorry, Miss."

Uneasily, Imogen reached out and laid a hand on her teacher's arm. "She only didn't tell you because she thought you'd be upset. Natalie just turned up on the doorstep at the School House. Hollie said she didn't want to talk to her at first…"

After a glance from her friend, Scout took over. "Hollie asked me to get rid of her, but I couldn't because… well, Nat had come all that way and I thought Hols should hear her out at least. I think after a while Hols was curious so she listened to what Natalie had to say. Then… well, they talked a lot and met up when Nat could afford to come up. We didn't know about you at the time, so we didn't understand why Hollie wanted to keep it a secret. She even persuaded the rest of us not to say anything."

"OK..." Nikki decided she could try and get her head around the fact that Hollie had secretly had contact with her father's side of the family later. "So you think Hollie might be with Natalie?"

"I dunno… She hadn't mentioned that Nat was coming up." Imogen said with a small shrug.

"And Natalie usually only comes up at the weekend, because she works in a hairdressers in the week." Scout added. "She gets every third Saturday off, so that's when she comes up."

"When did Hollie last see her?" Nikki asked, still reeling from the revelation. The teenagers exchanged an awkward look. "What?"

"When you and Tom went on that school trip the other weekend… Natalie stayed over at yours."

Breathing deeply and reminding herself that now was not the moment to get angry about Hollie lying to her, the woman wrapped her arms around herself anxiously. "We went to Edinburgh the weekend before last, so Hollie shouldn't be seeing Natalie until next week, if the pattern is the same."

"And it's not the weekend." Scout pointed out.

"I don't suppose either of you have Natalie's number, do you?" Nikki asked, thinking it might be a long shot. To her surprise, Scout pulled out her phone and scrolled through the contact list before holding it out.

"Hollie borrowed my mobile a couple of times when she ran out of battery or credit." She explained, seeing the confusion on her teacher's face.

Copying the number into her own mobile, the woman held the handset to her ear and waited for the call to connect. There was no familiar ringing, however, as the call went straight to the answerphone. Redialling, Nikki's frustration rose as she heard the answerphone kicking in immediately again. Glancing at her watch, she saw that break was nearly over. Smiling weakly at the teenagers, she thanked them and advised them to head to their next class, relieved that she had two free lessons.

Her first stop was Tom's classroom where she gave him a shortened version of what had happened. His instinctive reaction had been to grab for his car keys, until Nikki reminded him that he had a lesson with his year 13 class which he couldn't miss. Instead, he promised to head out and look for Hollie at lunch and during his two free lessons that afternoon.

With that in mind, Nikki headed out to see if she could spot her daughter.

x-x

"… and you're sure you haven't seen her?" Nikki demanded into the phone, pacing around the living room and chewing on her thumbnail anxiously. "OK, well… if you see her will you let me know? Thanks…"

"Nothing?"

She shook her head. "Tom, where is she?"

"I don't know." He admitted. Picking up his car keys and jacket he headed for the door. "I'm gonna go and drive around again and see if I can spot her."

Once he'd left, Nikki moved around the room, racking her brains for any clues as to where her daughter might be. Nothing came to mind and all their attempts to track her down seemed to be fruitless. Driving around that morning and afternoon hadn't shed any light on the matter and neither Hollie nor her sister were answering their mobiles. In fact, both were permanently switched off which, for her daughter at least, was extremely unusual.

The police had sent someone round to take details, but informed her that she should keep trying to track Hollie down herself. Apparently they weren't making it an urgent case at the moment as she'd only been missing for a matter of hours. But trying to track Hollie was easier said than done, Nikki thought angrily. Hollie wasn't with any of her friends or at the School House. As far as they were aware she didn't know anyone apart from them in Greenock, so there was nowhere else Nikki and Tom could think of to look for her.

Nikki's mind flicked back to what Hollie had mentioned about seeing the same car several times over the last couple of days and, finally, she felt uncomfortable about it. She seriously regretted telling her that she was being overdramatic when Hollie had pointed it out in the supermarket car park. Suddenly wondering whether her daughter hadn't been being paranoid after all, Nikki strode over to the kitchen counter where she'd discarded her mobile and scrolled through her contacts quickly. Selecting the number she was looking for, Nikki held her phone to her ear and waited for it to connect.

"Hello?" She asked as soon as the call was answered. "Can I speak to DS Jo Masters, please? Tell her it's her cousin Nikki and it's urgent."


	39. Chapter 39

_**A/N: I've realised that I seem to have a problem with sticking to just one show in my fics… in my brain I automatically connect characters from different shows for some bizarre reason! Even before I started writing this fic Nikki Boston and Jo Masters were cousins in my head! I don't know why…**_

_**Anyway, it doesn't really matter whether you've watched The Bill or not, because I'm just borrowing DS Jo Masters and DI Sam Nixon (and a couple of other characters later on). If you are familiar with The Bill, they both got a transfer to Manchester after The Bill ended and, being a Jo/Sam shipper, I've decided that they're a couple.**_

_**Any questions, feel free to ask!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Sam or Jo… sadly. They belong to the geniuses behind The Bill.**_

* * *

Jo looked up from the large pile of folders on her desk and sighed, her eyes flicking over the information on the board on the wall. She was starting to despair of the case she, along with most of her colleagues in Greater Manchester CID, was working on at the moment. Several of the cases being handled by Uniform had been linked back to a couple of well-known criminal families connected through blood and marriage.

"We've got a witness claiming they saw two men matching the descriptions of Andy Evans and Eddie Baldwin in the van Uniform picked up yesterday evening heading in the direction of Dean Wilks' flat at about nine o'clock." DC Ellis called, striding towards the desk and dropping yet another file in front of the woman. "It looks like it was the Evans family who burnt his place down after all, although we're not sure why yet."

"So this is almost definitely a family-orientated fued? Thanks, Kev." She murmured, flicking through the papers with another sigh. Picking the latest evidence up, she headed towards the private office in the corner and knocked on the door, waiting to be called in.

"How can I help?" The blonde woman at her desk asked as her subordinate entered the office, closing the door firmly behind her. At the expression on Jo's face, DI Samantha Nixon stood up and moved to stand in front of her, looking up at the brunette in concern. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Jo shifted uncomfortably, avoiding the smaller woman's gaze. "I should have told you before… Nikki, my cousin… well, Andy Evans is her daughter's father."

"Andy Evans is Hollie's Dad?" Sam repeated, looking shocked. There was a pause as she thought about this new information, making the obvious connection between the surnames. "Is there any chance she or Nikki might be involved in the case?"

"No, of course not; Nikki hasn't seen him since she was sixteen and I don't think Hollie even knows who he is."

Slowly, Sam nodded. "Then it's not relevant to the case." She assured her with a smile. "Although, unofficially, it might be a good idea to phone Nikki when we get home just to double check Evans hasn't tried to get in contact with either of them."

"Nikki would have told me, Sam."

"I know!" The blonde agreed with a smile. "But it's better to be safe than sorry, isn't it? Besides, Nikki might be able to fill in some gaps in our knowledge of the Evans family."

Returning the smile, Jo shook her head. "I don't think there's anything she can tell us that I don't already know. I don't really want to press her, either. Any mention of Andy Evans sets Niks on edge. She does her best to pretend he doesn't exist."

"I don't blame her." Sam chuckled, reaching up to give the brunette a quick kiss. "I'd better get on… I've got to see the DCI in twenty minutes."

Nodding, Jo headed out of the office, still clutching the file in her hand. Leaving it on her desk, she moved to stand in front of the board with all the case information displayed on it. Putting her hands on her hips, the brunette studied it carefully. It was years since she'd last seen Andy Evans – she and her cousin had both been sixteen when they had sneaked off to introduce him to baby Hollie and he had told Nikki that he wasn't interested – but she would have recognised him anywhere. He hadn't changed in seventeen years.

Until now, Andy had only been on the radar for small crimes; shoplifting, drink driving and handling stolen goods to name a few. His older brothers, Gary and Martin, were in a different league and recently evidence suggested that Andy had been drawn into their business. A series of crimes had culminated in the burning down of their rival Dean Wilks' flat, almost killing his wife and children. As yet CID hadn't worked out the reason for the attack, but they were sure the Evans brothers were behind it.

"Sarge?" DC Ellis called from his desk, drawing Jo's attention away from the board. "There's a phone call for you."

"Who is it?" The brunette asked, looking at him before deciding whether or not to take it.

"Your cousin, Nikki. She says it's urgent."

Frowning, Jo moved to her desk; Nikki never called her at work. Wondering what could be urgent enough to warrant the call, she snatched up the receiver and held it to her ear. "Niks? What's wrong?" From the other end of the line there was an unintelligible rush of words until Jo shushed her cousin. "Calm down. I have no idea what you're saying."

"Hollie's disappeared."

"Disappeared? What d'you mean Hollie's disappeared?" The detective asked, deeply concerned by what she was hearing. Nikki was usually so calm, but the panic in her voice now was evident.

"She's vanished, Jo. I haven't seen her since this morning."

Trying to keep them both calm, Jo took a breath and glanced at the clock on the wall behind her desk, briefly wondering where the last couple of hours had gone. She should have left work before now, although she was glad she hadn't. "It's only just gone eight, Nik, maybe she's at a mate's?"

"No... Hollie would have let me know. Besides, I've spoken to her friends and none of them have seen her since yesterday."

Jo frowned. "She didn't go to school? That's not like Hollie. What time did you see her? What was her mood like?"

"Normal. She was going on about going to the cinema tonight with her friends; Tom was winding her up about them choosing a horror just to annoy her and she was laughing at him. It must have been about quarter past eight when she left for school. That's almost twelve hours…" Nikki told her.

"She didn't go in with you and Tom?"

"No, she never does. She meets her friends and walks with them. The School House where she used to live is about ten minutes away." The woman on the other end of the phone said quickly. "Apparently Hollie didn't turn up this morning, so they assumed she was ill and came to ask me at break time. That was the first I knew that something wasn't right. Her mobile's been switched off since at least half past eight."

Worried now, Jo glanced at the closed door of the DI's office, almost instinctively. As though sensing that she was needed, Sam appeared at that exact moment and glanced in her girlfriend's direction. Spotting the anxious expression on the brunette's face, Sam headed straight for her and perched on the desk. When Jo shook her head slightly and chewed on her thumbnail concentrating on her conversation, the blonde turned to the DC at his desk.

"Kev? What's going on?" She demanded.

Glancing up from his paperwork, the young man shrugged. "Family emergency I think. Her cousin, Nikki, called up and said it was urgent."

Knowing Nikki enough to know that something must be seriously wrong to warrant an urgent phone call, Sam returned her attention to Jo, looking at her closely and trying to catch as much of what was being said as she could.

"I'll speak to Sam and see what I can do." Jo promised after a couple of moments, intriguing her girlfriend further. "I'm not guaranteeing anything, Nik, but I'll do my best. We've got a big case on at the moment... No! Of course not. Of course it's not more important. Just try and stay calm. Where's Tom now?" She glanced at Sam and motioned for her to pass a notepad and pen. When it was in front of her she scribbled two words and passed it back. "Well concentrate on keeping Josh calm. When Tom gets back phone me and let me know the latest."

Sam looked down at the notepad and read what Jo had written, '**Hollie's missing**'. Her stomach churned as she realised what those words meant. She remembered only too clearly what it was like to realise your daughter was missing. With a further jolt, Sam realised that Hollie was the same age as her own daughter, Abi, had been when she'd vanished.

"What's going on?" She demanded the second Jo hung up.

"Hollie left for school at about quarter past eight this morning, heading off to meet her friends at about half past as normal, but she never arrived. Her friends tried phoning her but her mobile was off. They assumed that she was ill, so they went to school. Nikki found out that Hollie hadn't got to school at break time, just before eleven." Jo told her, relating everything she'd been told as though it was any other missing person case. "She and Tom have rung round everyone they can think of – which isn't many people – and they've both been out looking for her."

"Have they notified the police?" Sam asked at once.

"Nikki said she phoned earlier, but they weren't particularly helpful." Sighing, the brunette glanced up. "She wants me to go and help find Hollie."

There was a long pause while Sam struggled to find the balance between her personal and professional feelings. "Do you think this could possibly be connected to the case? I mean, it's a bit of a coincidence, isn't it? We're investigating Andy Evans and his brothers and then his daughter goes missing?"

"I don't know." Jo admitted shakily. "I told myself there was no way Nikki or Hollie could be involved… but maybe someone else is involving them."

Nodding quickly, Sam glanced at the clock. "Right, let's get home and pack. If we leave by nine we'll be at Nikki's by about one. I'll tell the DCI we're following up a lead."


	40. Chapter 40

Jo persuaded Sam to take a detour as they headed home. Directing her quickly through streets that were unfamiliar to the blonde, Jo pointed Sam in the direction of a large Estate, similar to the ones they spent far too much of their time investigating. As they drew to a halt outside a block of flats, Sam made to follow her girlfriend out of the car.

Jo shook her head. "I won't be long; wait here."

Reluctantly the blonde agreed, waiting in the car as the brunette disappeared from view. Jo headed quickly towards the building and through the door, heading up the stairs to the fifth floor. She hoped that the woman she was looking for hadn't moved in the years since she'd last visited her flat. Coming to a halt outside number 287, Jo raised her hand and knocked firmly on the glass of the door.

"Evening, Paula." Jo said as soon as the flat door opened.

A blonde woman in her early sixties stared at her with confusion, which was quickly replaced with recognition and then moved back to confusion. For a moment she seemed to consider slamming the door closed. Evidently she thought better of it as she stood aside to let the DS in. Jo waited for her to lead the way through the hall, finding herself in a reasonably nicely decorated living room. A slight smell of cigarette smoke lingered in the room, mixed with a hint of aftershave. Turning to face the older woman, Jo smiled.

Sighing, Paula sat down and picked up a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from the coffee table, offering one to the detective. Jo shook her head, glancing at the row of photographs on the mantelpiece.

"So… long time no see, Jo. Seventeen years, isn't it?" Paula said once she had lit up. "What do you want? You're a copper now, aren't you? I'm guessing this is about my boys?"

"I'm not here about your sons, for once." Jo informed her with a wry smile.

"Craig?"

"Nope, not him either. Though I'm amused that you automatically think this is a business call."

Paula shrugged. "Your lot have got it in for my family."

"Not this time, Paula; I'm not wearing my DS hat at the moment. I'm actually here about your granddaughter."

"Which one?"

"How many have you got now?" Jo asked, half-dreading the answer.

"Thirteen." The woman told her with a smirk, almost as though she thought the younger woman should be jealous. "I've got nine grandsons, thirteen granddaughters and two great-granddaughters."

Jo raised an eyebrow. "Wow… congratulations." She said sarcastically. "But I'm here about Hollie."

"Ahh… of course. The only one I never see. Her mum was your sister, wasn't she?"

"Cousin." Jo corrected her. Taking a breath, she realised that she needed to break through the atmosphere between them.

"Close as sisters, though, weren't you?" The woman said insightfully. "As close as my youngest two are."

Jo bit her lip, ignoring her words. "Look, Paula… I need your help. We're currently investigating a series of incidents that we believe your sons are involved in, including an arson attack on the home of Gary's brother-in-law, Dean Wilks. But that's not important at the moment. I need to know whether there's a chance Wilks and his gang know about Hollie?"

Paula shrugged. "I don't know; I doubt it, unless Lauren's told him. That's not likely though because they don't speak since Gary and Dean fell out. Why?" A pang of concern appeared in the woman's eyes. "Has something happened to her?"

"Nikki phoned me to say she's gone missing."

"Nikki? I thought Hollie was living with her grandparents."

"She was, but my Uncle died and my Aunt's in a home in London." Jo told her quickly, trying to get back to the point. "Does Andy know where Hollie is?"

"Darling, Andy hasn't known where Hollie was since she was three." Paula replied.

Jo turned the information over in her mind, coming to the conclusion that if Hollie's disappearance was down to Wilks, her father's family had no idea about it. She nodded and glanced back at the photos on the mantelpiece.

"Emma and Janey alright?" She asked, referring to the 'two youngest' Paula had mentioned earlier and smiling genuinely. "I hope they're keeping themselves out of trouble, at least?"

"They are. They both live in Chester now. Emma's got three kids and Janey's got two. We don't see them much." Paula looked a little bitter about that, so Jo didn't press the point, wondering whether there had been some kind of falling out.

"And Karin?"

"Oh, she's got three girls; her middle one's just had a baby. They live in a nice house out in Hale with her husband."

"He's not on our radar, I assume?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

The woman chuckled. "No, he's a property developer."

"Almost on our radar then." The detective joked. She stood up and moved towards the door. "Look, I'd better be going. Thanks for talking to me, anyway."

Together they moved towards the flat door and Paula leant against the wall as Jo stepped out onto the walkway. She turned back to the older woman and shot her a weak smile, before starting to walk towards the stairs.

"It was good to see you again, Jo. Let me know… when you find Hollie, I mean."

Jo stopped and turned around. "I'll let you know when she's safe, but I can't tell you where she is… that's down to Nikki."

The blonde nodded and retreated back into her flat as Jo hurried down to the car. Settling herself in the passenger seat, she closed her eyes and shook her head as Sam started asking questions. Raising an eyebrow, Jo promised to explain when they were on their way to Nikki's and they headed home. Within half an hour they were packed and heading towards the M6 and Scotland.

"Are you going to explain what's going on, now?" The blonde demanded as Jo joined the motorway. "You didn't mention your connection with Andy Evans until this evening and now you're making secret visits and making me wait in the car. If there's something that I should know, you better tell me now."

"Who am I talking to, then?" Jo asked, smirking slightly. "DI Nixon or Sam?"

"Both."

Sighing, the brunette glanced sideways. "Nikki and I went to the same High School as the Evans brothers' younger sisters, Emma and Janey. The four of us were best friends from when we were about eleven. Nik and Janey were in the year below Emma and I, but the four of us were pretty much inseparable. Nikki and I spent a lot of time at the Evans' flat, which annoyed my Aunt and Uncle no end. Gary had moved out, but he was always popping round, so we knew him quite well even though he was thirteen years older than us. He was dodgy back then, but as kids we thought it was exciting."

"What happened between Nikki and Andy?"

"Nikki adored Andy, probably because he was eight years older than her and a bad boy. He already had a daughter, Natalie, who was born when we were thirteen. When Nikki told me that she and Andy were seeing each other, I tried to warn her off. I knew he'd break her heart, not to mention the age gap and her parents' views. He dumped her as soon as she told him she was pregnant. Emma and Janey didn't like the idea of their best mate having their brother's baby and we ended up falling out. Nikki and I took Hollie round there when she was a couple of months old and I haven't seen any of them since."

"And our stop off on the Estate?"

"I went to see whether Paula Evans had any idea if the Wilks family knew about Hollie and where she is." Jo explained, glancing in the mirror before indicating to overtake a lorry. "I wondered whether this is the next level of their war; ransoming off kids."

"There might not be a connection, Jo." The blonde reminded her gently. "Hollie might not even be missing. Nikki might just be overreacting."

"I have never known Nikki Boston overreact to anything."

"You're really close aren't you, you and Nikki?" Sam said, looking sideways at her girlfriend and smiling fondly.

Jo nodded, not looking at her. She focused her attention on the road instead. "We were as good as sisters; still are, really. Her parents were always having a go at her for something, so she used to spend loads of time round at ours. We told each other everything; I was the first person she told about Hollie. My Aunt and Uncle threw her out and she moved in with us until just before she gave birth. I tried to visit Hollie as often as I could when Nikki went into the army; she used to call me Auntie Jo. Nikki's parents moved to Bradford when Hollie was three, which made it more difficult to visit, but I did my best even though my Aunt would barely look at me. Then I got the job at Sun Hill and didn't see her for a whole year. My parents told me they had moved to London in 2006, so I went to see them…"

She broke off, staring into the distance as she thought about it. Sam realised that it must have been a less than idyllic meeting. "What happened?"

"Something had changed. Hollie wasn't the affectionate little kid she had been the last time I'd seen her. I tried to visit her when I could after that, but she never called me Auntie Jo again. It was Jo or nothing at all after that." The brunette raised a hand to rub her eyes tiredly. "According to Nikki she stopped calling her Mum around the same time. She had a lot to deal with; my Aunt and Uncle weren't exactly easy to live with by all accounts. I found out not long ago that Hollie took drugs for a while when she was fifteen."

"She's off them now?"

Jo glanced sideways and smirked at the knee-jerk professional reaction from her girlfriend. "Course. Nikki wouldn't stand for Hollie taking drugs, even if she had still been doing them."

"So, you haven't seen the Evans family since you were sixteen?" The blonde DI asked after a long silence, trying to get things clear in her mind.

"No."

Relieved, Sam smiled and reached over to squeeze the brunette's knee reassuringly. "Then you're not compromised in the investigation, although tonight's little visit wasn't exactly sensible."

* * *

_**A/N: Hello darlings! I PROBABLY won't be updating again until Friday, because I have a job interview on Tuesday that I'm proper stressing about and it's my birthday on Thursday. It might even be after the weekend when I update, because I've got stuff planned with my mates for the end of next week and, knowing them, I won't be in much of a state to do anything afterwards... **_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (and the whole thing so far!) and thank you for reading and reviewing! x**_


	41. Chapter 41

Nikki hadn't been able to settle that evening. The hours seemed to have crawled passed since she'd finished her conversation with Jo and there was still no sight or sound of Hollie. Tom had come back at about ten o'clock and Nikki had phoned her cousin's mobile, speaking to Sam and updating her about the situation; that there was nothing new.

Tom and Josh, who had both insisted on staying over again, went to bed not long after midnight at the woman's insistence. She pointed out that there was no point the three of them being zombies and, besides, she was demanding that they both went to school as normal the next day. When she was alone, Nikki had paced around the living room with just a table lamp lighting the room, peering through the curtains every couple of minutes in case she saw something new.

At about quarter past one she heard the sound of a car drawing up outside and flew to the window. Recognising the silver BMW, she went to open the front door before Jo and Sam were even halfway up the path. She hugged them both tightly, before leading them into the living room and offering them a drink.

"Sit down for a minute, Nik…" Jo said softly. Glancing past her, she spotted a photo on the mantelpiece of four teenage girls; two brunettes and two blondes. "I remember that night… you, me, Emma and Janey Evans went to the fair, didn't we? It wasn't long before…" Jo trailed off and put the photo down.

"It wasn't long before I got pregnant." Nikki finished the sentence for her, before turning away. The detectives exchanged a look as she hurried off to the kitchen to boil the kettle.

Nodding meaningfully, Jo stood up and followed her cousin, leaving Sam sitting on the sofa. In the kitchen, Nikki was standing with her back to the door, leaning against the counter and gripping it tightly. Jo looked at her hands and saw that they were white from how tight her hold on the edge of the surface was.

"Hey, come on." Jo murmured, moving across the room and drawing her cousin into her arms. Nikki turned and held her close, breaking into sobs. "We'll find Hollie, alright?"

"Why has this happened?" Nikki asked a couple of moments later when she had regained her composure and resumed her task with the kettle. "I've just got my daughter back and now…"

"You can't think the worst, alright." Her cousin urged her, taking the milk out of her hands before she spilt it and taking over making the teas. "Maybe Hollie's gone off with a friend or her boyfriend?"

Nikki shook her head. "No… we've spoken to all her friends and Kevin."

"Maybe she's got other friends you don't know about."

"She would have told Scout." Seeing the expression on Jo's face, she shook her head as though clearing it. "Umm… her best friend; they tell each other pretty much everything."

Smiling, Jo tried to lighten the atmosphere a little. "Bit like you and me."

Her attempt seemed to fall flat as Nikki frowned slightly. "There was… Scout told me today…"

"What? Nikki if this is important…"

"Apparently Hollie's been meeting up with Andy's older daughter, Natalie for a couple of months. Natalie tracked her down, I don't know how, at the beginning of December."

"And she never told you?" Jo asked, concerned. At once her mind started working on possible connections and explanations.

The younger woman shook her head sharply. "Scout said she didn't want to hurt me. Maybe she thought I'd be angry or upset if I knew. Anyway, I've been trying Natalie's mobile all day as well, but that's turned off too."

"Could they be together? Maybe Hollie's gone to visit her?"

"I don't think so." Nikki said slowly. "Scout told me that Natalie's been coming up here every three weeks or so, when she gets a weekend off work. If that's still the plan, they shouldn't be seeing each other until next week. Besides, if Hollie was planning on going away she would definitely have told me. She wouldn't have wanted to put me through this; however much I might have hurt her, she wouldn't hurt me."

Pulling Nikki into another hug, Jo rubbed soothing circles on her back. "OK… we'll work all this out."

"Will you? How many times have you told me that most missing people who don't turn up in the first few hours are never found? And if they are found they're almost never alive."

"We're less likely to find her if you give up hope, alright?" The older woman pointed out firmly. "We won't rest until Hollie is safe, I promise you."

Taking a breath and wiping her eyes, Nikki picked up two of the mugs and started towards the kitchen door. "We can't leave Sam on her own all night, can we?"

x-x

The next morning the three women in the house were awake before either Tom or Josh, despite having only had about three or four hours sleep each. When the teenager came down the stairs, bleary-eyed and tousle-haired with his shirt half done up and his tie thrown loosely around his neck, he was taken aback by the two strangers sitting at Nikki's kitchen table sipping at mugs of coffee.

"You must be Josh?" The taller, brunette woman asked, smiling and holding out her hand to him. She ignored the slightly confused expression on his face, smiling warmly.

"Yeah… and you're Jo, right?" He replied, shaking her hand. "And Sam?"

"Nice to meet you." The blonde confirmed, smiling too.

"So? You're detectives, yeah? D'you know where Hol is?" He asked, reaching up to pull the cereal box off the top of the fridge. He seemed to be calm, but Jo could tell that it was just an act. His eyes were dull and red, as though he'd been awake most of the night.

"Not at the moment, but we're going to do what we can to find her as soon as possible." Jo assured him gently. She glanced up as the sound of footsteps and a whispered argument reached her ears.

Josh followed her gaze, pouring milk into his bowl and shrugging. "Dad and Nikki have been arguing over whether he should come to school or not. He said she shouldn't be on her own and she reminded him she's not a child."

"That's our Nikki." Jo muttered, smiling into her coffee mug.

She was about to ask whether Josh had any ideas where Hollie could be, when Sam's mobile rang and made them all jump. The blonde snatched it up and pressed it to her ear, listening to whoever was speaking on the other end of the phone. When she hung up, Sam glanced at her girlfriend.

"That was the Guv… apparently an Andrea Williams has reported her nineteen-year-old daughter missing."

"Andrea Williams?" Jo repeated, furrowing her eyebrows. "That name rings a bell."

"It should do. Her daughter, Natalie, is Andy Evans' oldest child."

"What?" The brunette breathed. She glanced sideways at Josh and, taking the unspoken hint, he headed through the door into the living room, closing it firmly behind him. "I'm starting to think this is connected to the case after all."

"So, considering what Nikki said last night, there are two possible explanations that I can think of; either Hollie and Natalie are together and neither has thought to inform anyone–"

"Unlikely." Jo interrupted. "Nikki's adamant that if Hollie was planning on going anywhere she would have told her."

"But she didn't tell her she'd met Natalie or that she'd stayed here while Nikki was away." Sam reminded her. "Anyway, the other option is that someone has kidnapped them both."

"Two hundred miles apart?" Her girlfriend asked, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, no one knew Hollie was here. Even if… whoever… managed to find out her name and what she looked like, it would be highly unlikely that they would be able to track her down."

"There's something I didn't tell you." Nikki said suddenly, making both women jump and whirl round. "I should have done, but…" She shook her head. "This is my fault."

Sam moved and put an arm around the woman, guiding her into a chair at the table and sitting beside her. Laying a hand on Nikki's arm, she leant forward and looked at her seriously. "How can this be your fault?"

"On Saturday when we were at the supermarket, Hollie pointed out a car and said that she'd seen it loads of times recently. She said she thought it was following her. I told her I thought she was just being overdramatic or paranoid or something and I didn't take her seriously."

"What did the car look like? What colour… make… did you get the number on the licence plate?"

Nikki shrugged. "It was just a car like any other car. Dark blue… possibly a Ford, but I couldn't say for sure. Yeah… I told Hollie to write down the number and I'd ring you to check it out. I really wish I had done. It's in the notebook in my bag."

"OK. We can try an index match on that. I'm going to go to the station and see if I can find anything out." Sam said, standing up and moving to retrieve the notebook. "The Guv's told their DCI I'm coming."

Nikki nodded and, as Sam headed out of the house, Jo took the seat she'd recently vacated. She reached out to squeeze Nikki's hand. "Did you hear? Natalie's gone missing too."

"Mmm… I heard. And Sam thinks they've both been kidnapped?"

"It's a theory." Her cousin agreed. Seeing the expression in the other woman's eyes, she sighed. "We're going to find her."

* * *

_**A/N: I found a minute to update earlier than I thought! :D**_

_**Hope you enjoy this chapter, guys!**_

_**x**_


	42. Chapter 42

"Kev?" Sam said into the receiver of the phone as soon as she was settled in the temporary office the DCI at Greenock CID had sorted for her. She had made it very clear that Hollie's disappearance was part of their on-going investigation and therefore would be handled by Greater Manchester police. Her Scottish counterparts hadn't seemed interested in arguing the point and left her to it. "Tell me everything we know so far about the kidnap that was reported this morning."

"Andrea Williams reported her nineteen-year-old daughter Natalie missing at just after eight o'clock this morning. Miss Williams says that the last time she actually saw her daughter was about half past eight on Tuesday morning before she went to work at a Hairdressers about twenty minutes' walk away from their house." The DC told her, obviously shuffling papers around as he looked for the information.

"Wait… she hadn't seen her for almost forty-eight hours before she reported her missing? Does Natalie often go off without saying anything?"

"No, Guv. Miss Williams is a barmaid and she explained that she didn't get home from work until almost midnight on Tuesday, so she assumed that Natalie was already in bed. Then she overslept yesterday and thought that her daughter must have already left."

"Right… so didn't Natalie's employers raise the alarm?"

"Yeah, they phoned at lunchtime on Tuesday to find out why she hadn't turned up. That was when Miss Williams realised that something was wrong."

"Yet it took her about another twenty hours to report it?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Guv, apparently she phoned Natalie's father when she realised something was wrong. He tried to persuade her not to involve us."

Sam groaned. "Great, so Andy Evans knows that his daughter is missing and I'll bet he's jumped to the same conclusions as we have." She rubbed her forehead in agitation. "Kev, I want you to make sure none of the Evans brothers or their associates get near the Wilks family. All we need is for them to fight this one out."

"Are you convinced that this is linked to the Evans-Wilks feud, Guv?"

"Mmm… it's looking likely. The lead Jo and I are following up fits as well; Andy's second eldest daughter seems to have been kidnapped on her way to school yesterday morning; seventeen-year-old Hollie Evans." Sam tensed slightly, wondering whether to tell him about Jo's connection to the teenager. Deciding against it, she shuffled the papers on the desk and clamped the phone between her ear and her shoulder. "Can you look into the rest of the Evans' children; make sure we're not looking for any more."

"Will do."

"Alright, let me know when you've found out. Also, see if you can find any CCTV or witnesses to try and narrow down the timescale for Natalie's kidnap." She requested before hanging up. Dialling another number almost immediately, she waited for the call to connect. "Hi, this is DI Nixon. Can you run an ANPR check on a dark blue Ford? Yeah… it's X-Ray three four four Mike Papa Kilo… Great, thanks." Within minutes the phone rang and Sam snatched it up eagerly. "DI Nixon. Yes… fantastic. Right… thanks."

Hanging up, the blonde DI turned to her computer, tapping a name into the database and waiting for the results. Frowning, she leant forwards, scanning the information hurriedly. Hitting print, she waited for the paper to leave the printer before moving back to her desk and reaching for the phone.

It rang as she was about to lift the receiver. "DI Nixon." She said, slightly distractedly, still staring at the information in front of her.

"Guv, it's Kevin." The DC said. "I've done some digging on the Evans family like you said."

"And?"

"Well Andy Evans has a wife and four ex-partners. He also has nine children."

"Bloody hell…" Sam murmured, thinking of the implications for Jo's family. "He's been a busy boy."

"Yeah. The two kidnapped girls are his eldest. Natalie Williams, born 21st September 1993, mother's name is Andrea Williams and Hollie Evans, born 6th December 1995, mother's name is Nicola Boston." Sam flinched involuntarily at the mention of Nikki, relieved that her DC couldn't see her. "Then Evans moved to Bradford and met a Caroline Jessop. They have two sons; Callum, born 24th April 1999 and Leon, born 18th August 2001. We checked up on them and discovered that they're currently on holiday in Lanzarote with their mother, her new husband and their four-year-old daughter."

"Has someone checked up to make sure?"

"Yeah, I had Emma checking it out." He assured her. "All five of them definitely got on the plane."

"Great, that's almost half of his children mentioned."

"Right, after his relationship broke down, Evans moved to Liverpool, where he entered into a relationship with Poppy Martigan. Now, they have two daughters; Paige, born 4th May 2007 and Tia, born 29th November 2008. We sent someone round to speak to Miss Martigan at her mother's house where she's lived since she broke up with Evans in early 2009. Both girls are safe and sound."

Sam nodded, leaning back in her desk chair and swivelling it slightly as she listened. In her opinion, Andy Evans sounded like the kind of man who was part of the reason she was off men for good. She wondered what Nikki had ever seen in him. "And the last three children?"

"Evans married Jennifer Kent in July 2010." Kevin said quickly. "They have a son, Cody, born on 30th December 2010 and twin daughters, Faith and Serenity, born on 1st August last year. We tracked them down at Jennifer's mother's house in Bolton."

"Right, so out of Andy Evans' nine children we can account for the whereabouts of all but the eldest two girls?" Sam clarified.

"Yes, Guv."

"And without going into so much detail, are any other members of the Evans family missing?"

"Well," Kevin started slightly hesitantly, causing the DI to sit up slightly straighter in her seat, "you know what the Evans family are like when we're around. We did think we were looking for a third missing teenager for a while, though. Martin Evans' seventeen-year-old son, Joshua, hadn't returned home for several days. Martin's wife, Verity, was reluctant to tell us; I'm assuming that, like Andrea Williams, she'd been warned not to speak to us about it."

"You said you _thought_ we were looking for a third? What happened?"

"While we were there, he turned up. When he spotted us he legged it so we chased him and ended up nicking him for burglary."

"Typical." Sam muttered, shaking her head. "Listen, I ran a partial index check on the blue Ford that was spotted following Hollie Evans. It's registered to an Alan Henderson."

"Who's he, then?" Kevin asked.

"Alan Henderson is the father of Jonathon Henderson. I ran Jonny Henderson through CRIMINT, although I didn't really need to, and he has form for burglary and assault. Jonny is also married to Dean and Adrian Wilks' cousin, Annabelle."

"So he might have taken his father's car to kidnap Evans' daughter?"

"That's what I'm thinking." Sam agreed with a nod. "OK, keep me informed of any new developments."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you for reading guys! It means a lot that you're still enjoying it and SPECIAL thank you to LucyMaxine, Anastasia Dove, PondGirl11 and Sarahabc0598 for your reviews! :D **_


	43. Chapter 43

When Sam had left, Jo realised that she needed to put her DS hat on and get down to business. If they were going to find Hollie then she needed to start taking details. With a sigh, she turned to face Nikki seriously.

"I know the police probably asked you a lot of questions yesterday, but I need to ask too." She said quietly. "What was Hollie wearing yesterday?"

Nikki shook her head, almost as though she was in a daze. "Her school uniform… black skirt, tights, white shirt, burgundy jumper, red and yellow tie, black converses… I don't know, Jo, I can't…"

"What colour is her coat?"

"Red."

"OK…" Jo smiled weakly. "I'm going to have to go into the school and talk to her friends."

"I've already done that."

"I know, sweetheart, but I have to make sure there's nothing you might have missed that will help us find Hol."

With a deep sigh, the younger woman nodded and stood, moving to pick up her car keys from the kitchen counter. They drove to the school in silence and Nikki led the way through the entrance and along the corridors to the Headmaster's office, realising that she should probably inform him of her cousin's presence at the school.

Michael looked a little taken aback as Sonya opened his office door and announced the two women. "Nikki… I didn't expect to see you today."

"No… I… this is my cousin, DS Masters. She's investigating Hollie's disappearance."

"Hi, call me Jo." The detective said, smiling and holding out a hand for him to shake. "I'll need to speak to Hollie's friends and possibly some of her teachers, if that's alright?"

Mr Byrne nodded quickly. "Of course you'll have our full cooperation. We all want Hollie back safe and sound as soon as possible."

Jo and Nikki followed Sonya along corridors to an empty classroom that they could use to interview the teenagers. The secretary chattered happily, seemingly oblivious to the tension the other women were feeling. Having found out her connection to Nikki through her Aunt living next door to the English teacher's parents, she brought the conversation round to her.

It was a relief when they reached the allotted room and Jo sent the bubbly young woman off, armed with a list of names provided by Nikki. It was only a couple of minutes before there was a tentative knock on the door and a blonde teenager poked her head around the door apprehensively.

"Scout, come in." Nikki said reassuringly, smiling at her daughter's best friend and indicating for her to sit in the chair opposite theirs. "This is my cousin, Jo."

"You're Hollie's Auntie Jo?" The girl asked, looking at the detective carefully. "You're not really how I imagined you." Noticing the bemusement on the woman's face, Scout smiled. "It's not a bad thing; you just don't look like a copper."

"Thanks, I guess…" Jo replied, smiling slightly. "So, you're Scout, right? When did you last see Hollie?"

"At school on Tuesday. She was supposed to meet us outside the house yesterday morning but she never showed up. I tried ringing her, but her mobile was off."

"Did she mention anything about meeting anyone or having friends you might not know?"

Scout shook her head. "No… the only time she did stuff without us was when she met up with Nat or went out with Josh. I know he has mates that we don't know and Hollie knew some of them, but she didn't know them well enough to meet up with them without Josh."

"Alright, thanks sweetheart." Jo told her with a smile, glancing sideways at her cousin who was staring blankly at the table. "If you hear anything, let us know."

"I will." The blonde promised. "And if you find her…"

"We'll let you know." Jo agreed, sensing that the teenager was almost as upset as Nikki by Hollie's disappearance.

They had no time to consider what Scout had told them, when the classroom door opened and a nervous looking teenage boy appeared. Smiling at him in an attempt to reassure him, Jo signalled for him to take the seat that Scout had recently vacated.

"Hi, I'm DS Masters, but call me Jo."

"I'm Kevin."

"Ahh…" Jo couldn't help a small smile creeping over her lips as she recalled hearing the name before. "You're Hol's boyfriend?"

He shifted nervously in his seat. "Yeah…" Then a look of understanding appeared on his face. "Oh… are you Hollie's Auntie Jo?"

The detective nodded. "I am. Now, Kevin, when did you last see Hollie?"

"After school on Tuesday. We went to the park round the corner from school for a bit before going home."

"What time did you leave?"

"About five?" He replied, frowning lightly. "Hol said she had to be home for tea at half past."

"And did you speak to her after that?"

"Yeah, I rang her at about nine last night. We talked for about half an hour. I tried phoning her when she didn't come in yesterday, but she didn't answer her phone."

"Can you think of anywhere she might have gone? Or anyone she might be with?" Jo asked. Kevin shook his head, looking miserable and the detective sighed, reaching out and squeezing his arm reassuringly. "Thanks, Kevin."

More teenagers trailed in and out of the classroom telling the two women more or less the same as Scout and Kevin had done. There were no new leads and nothing to indicate that Hollie might have gone off of her own volition. Finally the door opened and Josh appeared, looking between the two women seriously.

"Hey, Josh." Jo said with a smile. "We can do this later if you want to stay in class?"

He shook his head. "Nah, it's alright. What d'you want to know?"

"Basically when you saw Hollie last and if you have any idea where she might be?"

"I saw her at about eleven last night when she went to bed, but I heard her leave the house at about twenty past eight; not long after Dad and Nikki left." Josh told her. "I don't know where she could have gone, though."

"Scout mentioned that she knew some people through you that her other friends don't know. Could she have gone to see them?"

The teenager shook his head. "Nah… they're not really her friends; I don't think she even really likes them that much. She just puts up with them being around because they're my mates."

"Has Hollie mentioned anything to you about a car following her?" Jo asked, wondering whether the teenager might have told him about her worries.

"Yeah… a week or so ago she said something… I didn't really pay much attention. Madi said she was being stupid and Hollie dropped it." He looked anxious. "Why? D'you think it actually was following her?"

"We're not sure. Can you remember anything about the car? The colour, maybe, or the make?"

"It was a blue Ford, I think." Jo smiled and stood up, prompting Nikki to jump and get to her feet as well. Josh looked between them nervously. "You will find her, won't you? She's like… she's like my sister."

Reaching out, Nikki pulled him into a tight hug, closing her eyes as the boy's arms wound round her and clung on. "Of course she will. Jo won't give up until Hollie's home safely."

Beside them, Jo nodded and smiled, her heart sinking slightly at the confidence her cousin seemed to have in her abilities. The detective wanted nothing more than to bring the teenager she thought of as her niece back to her family, but she couldn't deny that they had next to nothing to work with at the moment. Unless they found a lead soon, she didn't hold out much hope that they would track Hollie down soon.


	44. Chapter 44

_**A/N: This is the chapter where Hollie's past starts to catch up with her. She is a VERY dark horse. From here on you'll start to understand some of the things her grandmother was saying about her in the hospital!**_

* * *

The next day Nikki, Jo and Sam went to Manchester. There was nothing else the detectives could do from Scotland and sitting around was driving Nikki mad. As soon as they'd dropped their things off at the two detectives' house and filled Sam's daughter Abi in as best they could on what was happening, Sam phoned the station, hoping that there would be news that she could pass on. Disappointed, she was forced to admit to both brunettes that there was nothing new.

Sunday was a nightmare in the house. Everyone was on eggshells, jumping every time any of the phones rang in case it was news about Hollie. It never was; it was either for Abi or it was Tom and Josh. Jo and Sam were itching to go into the station, but they had been ordered to stay at home by their DCI until the following day.

Nikki had begged, reasoned and finally resorted to threatening to be allowed to accompany the two detectives to the police station on Monday morning, but they wouldn't let her go with them. Instead, the younger Nixon and her young son did their best to keep her mind off things.

"We've got nothing, have we?" Jo sighed, glancing sideways at her girlfriend as they drove the familiar route to work.

Sam sighed. "We know that the blue Ford that was following Hollie around is owned by Alan Henderson, which gives us a link to the Wilks brothers."

"Yes, but it doesn't bring us any closer to finding out where Hollie is, does it?"

"No." The blonde DI admitted. "So that's why we really need a breakthrough today."

As they pulled up in the car park and headed up to CID, the two women exchanged weak smiles before Jo went to her desk and Sam disappeared into her office. The brunette flicked through the paperwork that she'd left on her desk when they went to Scotland. She had reports to complete and statements to file, but her mind was elsewhere.

"Jo?" One of the DCs called, as the brunette DS returned to the CID office after heading down to the canteen for her fourth coffee of the afternoon. "I've got something for you on the abducted girls."

"Go on."

"I ran them both through CRIMINT just in case anything came up."

"Pete… I haven't got all day." Jo reminded him, picking up a file and flicking through it quickly. "Just tell me what you've found out."

"Well Natalie Williams was caught in a car stolen by her boyfriend when she was sixteen. But it's Hollie Evans that's really interesting."

Jo almost dropped the file in her surprise at the DC's words. She did her best to remain passive. "Interesting? How?"

"Well to begin with, she's down here as using an alias; Joanne Nicola Dixon."

"What? Why would she do that?"

Pete shrugged and looked back down at the paper in his hand. "Dunno, but she obviously liked being in cells… she was taken into Sun Hill police station in London 24 times between September 2010 and October 2011." Jo sat heavily on her desk, blinking at the DC in confusion. "Isn't that where you used to work?"

"Yeah, it is. What's the first date she was brought in?"

"Err…" He scanned the information quickly. "She was given a reprimand for shoplifting on Thursday September 16th 2010 by PC Kirsty Knight."

The woman thought she was about to be sick. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Sarge." He told her, holding out the paper. "It's all here. Hollie Evans has an impressive record and list of associates for a seventeen-year-old."

"Thanks, Pete." She muttered distractedly.

Jo blinked at the alias on the sheet of paper in front of her. She didn't know why Hollie had picked Dixon, but it was blatantly obvious why she'd chosen Joanne Nicola as her first names. Either Hollie wasn't very inventive or she didn't have a high opinion of the police's intelligence. The detective's opinion was that the latter was true.

x-x

Not even bothering to knock on Sam's office door, Jo burst in brandishing several pieces of paper at her girlfriend about an hour after discovering about the teenager's secret past. "Hollie has a criminal record!"

"What?" Sam breathed, standing up and moving around the desk to pluck the sheets out of Jo's hand. "Possession of cannabis… shoplifting… drunk and disorderly?"

"That's just the tip of the iceberg, apparently." Jo fumed, snatching the paper back. "Recognise the name Mitchell Payne?"

There was a pause as Sam mulled it over. "Yeah… I arrested his older brother a couple of years back; Darren Payne. He was nicking cars and changing the plates before selling them on." She frowned. "What's that got to do with Hollie?"

"Mitchell Payne is her ex-boyfriend." The brunette snapped. "When I saw this, I phoned Neil because guess which nick she spent most of her time being taken in and out of?"

Sam sighed, raising her eyebrows as she understood that Jo was talking about Sun Hill, where they'd both worked before their transfers. She pulled the printout from Jo's hand and looked at it, raising her eyebrows. "So? What did Neil have to say?"

"Well he said he didn't know much because Hollie was never really of interest to CID. He passed me on to Smithy, who remembered her. His exact words were, 'she seemed like a nice enough kid who'd fallen in with the wrong crowd'. The worst thing is that the first time Hollie was taken into the station was September 2010… while I was still working there as Uniform Sergeant. How did I miss her?"

"She used a false identity. Joanne Nicola Dixon wouldn't have meant anything to you if you'd seen a file or heard anything. You can't blame yourself." Sam told her, reading Jo's mind and motioning to the printout of the teenager's record.

"Maybe… Anyway, according to Smithy, Hollie was usually with a Zoe Palmer and an Adi Malik when she was brought in. Malik was well known to the police; he had his fingers in lots of pies and he did time for GBH. He was shot in a gang related incident two months ago."

"Sounds like good friends to have…" Sam muttered.

Raising her eyebrows, Jo nodded. "It gets worse, I'm afraid. Zoe Palmer is a known prostitute working for a Gavin Ashton… someone else who Hollie was often seen with." She told her superior, reverting to 'Detective Sergeant mode' to stop herself dwelling on who she was talking about.

"You don't think…"

"I've given up thinking I know half of what Hollie's capable of." The brunette replied bluntly. "The interesting thing is Hollie was also friends with a Jayden Hallas."

Glancing sharply at her, Sam furrowed her eyebrows. "Not the same Jayden Hallas we suspected was supplying drugs to the Wilks brothers?"

"The very same."

"But… Hollie's seventeen, right? Jayden Hallas is about twenty-four and Gavin Ashton's almost thirty." The blonde pointed out. "How did she even meet them?"

Jo shrugged. "Who knows? My guess would be that they met through Zoe Palmer seeing as she and Hollie were at school together; Canley High School. But this gives us something to go on now. If Hollie told her friends where she was going after my Aunt was put into the care home, then Hallas might have passed the information on to the Wilks brothers. That's how they knew where to find her."

"You might be onto something there."

The brunette smirked, the smile not meeting her eyes. "Oh, I'm not just a pretty face."

"I'm not going to argue." Sam replied with a smirk of her own. "So? D'you think we need to go and pay Jayden Hallas a visit?"

"I don't know… will he tell us anything useful?"

Shaking her head, the blonde put her hands on her hips and shrugged. "Possibly, possibly not. But to be honest sitting around here theorising on what Hollie may have done or who she might have been friends with isn't going to help us track her down, is it?"


	45. Chapter 45

"Mum?" Sam glanced at the clock on her computer screen quickly. After Jo had filled her in on the teenager's criminal record, the DI had lost track of time staring at all the information they had compiled on the case so far. Sadly, all the information they had didn't amount to much. "Hollie's phoned Nikki."

The DI's mouth dropped open at her daughter's words. "What?!"

"Nikki's phone started ringing and it says Hollie on the display. She's still on the line now." Abi continued urgently. "She's not saying anything, but she's still there."

Rushing from her office, Sam barked an order for someone to get the Telephone Investigation Unit to put a trace on the call so that they could find out where the teenager might be. As the office jumped into life, getting onto the service provider and tracking down the signal, the DI asked her daughter questions; what could she hear, had Hollie said anything at all, was there anything going on in the background to suggest what was going on.

"Mum… the call's ended." Abi said suddenly. "There was a thud and a smashing sound and then the line went dead."

"Let me just…" Sam poked her head out of her office door and attracted the attention of one of the DCs. "Did TIU trace it?"

"Just, Ma'am." Kevin replied with a nod. "The signal was coming from a wood East of Carlisle."

"Have you informed the local police? It's Northumbria, right? They'll need to move fast if they're going to find them in time."

"Yes, Ma'am; Pete's on it now."

Sam nodded and retreated into her office, wondering where Jo had got to. There was no sign of her at her desk or anywhere in the main office. "They've traced the call, darling. Tell Nikki that the local police are on their way to where the signal's coming from right now."

"Are they going to find her?" Abi asked, sounding much younger than she was.

Her mother sighed, remembering once again how scared she had been when Abi was missing. "I don't know." She admitted. "But we'll stick around here for news and then we'll come home."

When Abi had hung up, Sam went in search of her girlfriend. She found her down in custody arguing with the Sergeant about whether or not she was allowed to interview one of the suspects being held before their brief arrived. The Uniformed officer looked relieved as Sam pulled Jo away gently, telling her she had news. After relaying the new information, the DI had to hold her DS back from leaving work and going straight home to be with Nikki.

"We've got an hour left on shift and we can wait to hear the news. If they find Hollie we'll find out quickest if we're still in the station." Sam pointed out quickly.

"And if they don't find her?"

Sam sighed. "If they don't find her we at least have a lead. We know where abouts they've taken Hollie. That's something, at least. Jo, this is the breakthrough we needed to start tracking her down."

Conceding that her girlfriend was right, the brunette was on tenterhooks until the phone call came in from the officers out looking for Hollie and Natalie. Jo's face fell at the expression on Sam's as the DI listened to what was being said on the other end of the line. The blonde frowned and snapped questions into her mobile, obviously not impressed by the result.

"Well?" She demanded as soon as Sam ended the call and turned to face her, wincing slightly.

"By the time the officers discovered where the girls were being held they'd moved them."

"What?" Jo snapped. "You're joking?"

"I wish I was." Sam sighed. "They were being held in some kind of derelict house or cottage in the middle of a wood. The CSEs are down there now looking for evidence and forensics. Apparently a white van was spotted on CCTV doing almost twice the speed limit just outside Penrith and we're assuming that that is the vehicle being used to transport the girls."

"So do we have any idea where they might be headed now?"

"Not yet, Jo."

"So why are we just standing around?" The brunette demanded. "We should be out there doing something."

"I've spoken to the Super and he's agreed that we can go to London to follow more leads."

"What leads?"

Sam sighed. "Hollie's record and our theory about how the Wilks' found out where she is."

"Right, fine, let's go home and pack."

The DI had to take several breaths, before trying to calm her girlfriend down as well and passing on what the Superintendent had told her. "We're not leaving until Friday."

"What, why?"

"We have to get all our paperwork up to date and make sure there's nothing here we're overlooking." She explained as calmly as she could. "The Super's condition was that we had to stay until Friday."

"Is paper work more important that making sure we find those girls before anything happens to them?" Jo demanded furiously.

"Of course not, but there might be something here we're overlooking."

"You know there isn't, Sam." Her girlfriend snapped. "You know we need to chase up any new leads we get if we stand any chance of finding them."

x-x

In the back of a van, Hollie felt herself being thrown around. She tried desperately to stop herself smashing into her sister as they were buffeted from side to side. It proved futile, however, as she slid sideways and landed almost in the older girl's lap with a muffled thud.

Sighing, she thought about how they'd ended up being shoved unceremoniously into the back of the van. After what felt like weeks but, she and Natalie had worked out, was more like six days, Hollie had thought that stealing her mobile back and using it to phone her Mum would have helped the police find them. She hadn't counted on her mobile beeping loudly and alerting their captors' attention to her plan, however.

The shorter of the two men keeping them in the building, the one called Adrian, had searched through her pockets until he found her phone. Dropping it to the ground, he had stamped on it several times, smashing the screen and completely destroying the handset in his fury. Then he'd turned his anger on the teenager, punching her several times until the other man, Jonny, had pulled him away.

Natalie had glared at them, pulling Hollie back to her feet and wrapping an arm around her tightly. Quickly checking that she wasn't seriously hurt, the older of the sisters, kept her arm wound tightly round Hollie's shoulders as the men had phoned someone, whispering hurriedly into the device before bundling them out and into the van.

Hollie winced as they rounded yet another corner and she was thrown against the side of the van again. Her face was aching from the first blow that Adrian had landed on her. Her stomach was sore from the second and third. Hollie whimpered slightly as yet another corner sent her flying across the back of the van and knocked her unconscious.


	46. Chapter 46

"Jayden Hallas? DS Masters, DI Nixon, Greater Manchester CID." Jo said, flashing her warrant card at the young man who opened the flat door and stared between them curiously. On their arrival in London they had left Nikki to settle in at Phil Hunter's house, where they were staying, and headed to the first address on their list, eager to find out as much as they could as quickly as they could. "We'd like to ask you few questions about Hollie Evans."

For a split second they thought he was about to deny knowing her, but then he nodded and stepped sideways to allow them to pass him and enter the flat. After glancing along the corridor outside the door, he closed it and followed them into the living room. Pausing until he motioned for them to sit down, Jo looked closely at the young black man who was pointedly avoiding her gaze. He was dressed like so many of the other young men on the Estate; baggy jeans, hooded top and heavy gold jewellery. She briefly wondered what he and Hollie could possibly have had in common.

"What's this about?" Hallas asked, bringing Jo back to the present with a bump.

"Hollie has gone missing from her home and we're looking into possible suspects." Sam told him seriously.

"She's…" The man looked between the women as though he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "I had nothing to do with it."

"We know you were friends with Hollie and we need some information." Jo snapped. "We also know that between September 2010 and October 2011 Hollie was taken into Sun Hill police station 24 times. On eighteen of those occasions you were brought in at the same time."

"Yeah, so?"

"Hollie received a reprimand for possession of cannabis in March 2011 and a final warning three months later. Jayden, you've got convictions for dealing. Were you her supplier?"

Jayden shook his head. "Nah… I liked Hollie. I did my best to keep her away from the drugs. You'd have to speak to Mitchell Payne about that." Hearing the slightly bitter edge to his voice, Jo glanced at Sam meaningfully. The blonde twitched an eyebrow upwards, acknowledging her girlfriend's look. "Look… what has this got to do with Hollie going missing? Shouldn't you be looking for her or something, instead of hassling me?"

"When was the last time you saw Hollie?"

"I dunno… October two years ago?" He said with a shrug.

"So that was after she was taken into Sun Hill for the last time?" Sam tried to clarify. "Uniform were called out to a disturbance at Mitchell Payne's flat and found him and Hollie having a blazing row; neither of them would say what it was about. Were you involved?"

"No. It was maybe a couple of days after that I saw her." Jayden admitted. Realising that they wanted more information, he sighed deeply. "I asked Hollie what they were fighting about. At first she wouldn't tell me; she just said it was just an argument."

Jo looked at him sharply. "Did they argue often?"

Jayden shrugged. "I guess. At the beginning they didn't. But towards the end of their relationship they didn't do much else."

"Was Payne ever violent towards Hollie?" Jo asked. Sam glanced sideways at the brunette, trying to catch her attention and remind her to stay on course with the questioning.

"I dunno… if he was he was smart enough to hide it."

Taking the situation back carefully, the blonde DI cleared her throat. "You said that Hollie wouldn't tell you why they were fighting at first. Did she eventually tell you the truth?"

"Yeah, she told me. According to Hollie, Mitch had found her in Gav's house the day after they broke up and went crazy. He dragged her back to his and started laying into her and accusing her of all sorts. Hollie gave back as good as she got, which was when your lot got called in."

"Gav? Gavin Ashton?" Jo demanded. "Did she say why she was there on her own?"

"She said she was waiting for Zoe to turn up 'cos she needed to tell her something."

Sam furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you know what she wanted to tell Zoe?"

Jayden shook his head. "Nah… she might have told Zo, but I don't know."

"OK… now can you tell us when you last saw Dean and Adrian Wilks?" The blonde DI asked, studying his face carefully as she spoke. "And don't try telling us you don't know them, because we know you do."

"I saw them about a month ago." He admitted. "They came down for a couple of days to see some people. Don't ask me who, because I don't know. We went for a few drinks and then they went to see Gav."

Thanking Jayden for his help and warning him that they might need to ask a few more questions, Sam almost had to drag Jo out of the flat and back to the car. The brunette's mind was whirring over the new information she was trying to organise. More and more questions seemed to be being thrown up, causing contradicting views of the teenager to battle against each other in her mind.

"What now?" Sam asked gently, making her girlfriend jump as she was addressed.

"Gavin Ashton." Jo replied instantly. "The Wilks brothers visited him a month ago and Hollie was alone with him in his house, causing her ex-boyfriend to possibly violently assault her."

"Are you still thinking that she might have been working for Ashton?"

There was a long pause. "Maybe… Mitchell Payne obviously thought she was."

"But what do you think?"

"I honestly don't know." Jo told her, keeping her eyes on the road as she drove them the short distance to Gavin Ashton's house. "The last time I saw her was before most of this, you know that. I haven't seen her since before we moved to Manchester, seeing as I wasn't welcome at my Uncle's funeral. You were with me when I told her we were going. Do you think she could be capable of that?"

Sam thought hard, remembering the withdrawn fourteen-year-old who'd listened to the news that she and Jo were moving to Manchester without a flicker of emotion crossing her face. The reaction had hurt Jo, but Hollie had barely even seemed to register the information. At least that was what Sam had thought until she'd returned to Hollie's grandparents' house to pick up Abi's scarf, which had been left behind, and heard the teenager sobbing her heart out in her bedroom. When Sam had attempted to comfort her, however, Hollie had told her to go away and leave her alone.

"I don't know either." She agreed as the car drew to a halt and Jo turned off the engine. "Let's just go and see what Ashton has to say."

They made their way over to the row of terraced houses, knocking on Ashton's door and waiting for him to answer. At the sight of the two women flashing warrant cards at him, the man attempted to slam the door in their faces. Jo was faster, however, blocking his attempt with her foot and barging her way inside.

"Not a smart move, Ashton." She snapped. "Now we can do this here or down at the station; your choice."

"What is this about?" He demanded angrily.

"We just need to ask you a few questions about Hollie Evans, Gavin." Sam told him, more gently than her furious partner, who was glaring at the man venomously. "Jo… d'you want to wait in the car?"

"No…" The brunette shook her head and made a valiant effort to reign in her emotions and calm down. "So, what can you tell us about your relationship with Hollie? We know you know her, so don't start denying it."

"She was mates with my girlfriend, Zoe and I was mates with her boyfriend, Mitchell. I suppose me and Hollie were mates, too." Ashton told them slowly.

"Is that all there was to your relationship? It was purely personal?"

Ashton narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at, DS Masters?"

Sam, sensing the tension jumped in before Jo could reply. "And when was the last time you saw Dean and Adrian Wilks?"

"Who? Never heard of them."

"Well that's funny, because we've got a witness who claims they visited you about a month ago."

"Maybe they did…"

"What did you talk about?" The brunette asked, trying to stay in control. Although it would be incredibly satisfying, punching the man would be more trouble than it was worth.

"This and that… nothing important. Look… what have the Wilks brothers got to do with Hollie?" Ashton demanded. A look crossed his face, catching both detectives' eyes and causing them to exchange a glance.

"What, Gavin?" Sam asked eagerly.

"Dean saw a photo of Hollie when he was round and started asking questions. He said she was the split of his mate's daughter. When I heard his mate was called Andy Evans, I said that was Hollie's surname and she must be the guy's daughter. Dean said his mate had been looking for her for years and asked where she was. I told him she'd not long moved but I wasn't sure where. When Zoe got back, she told him the name of the school Hollie was at in Scotland."

Jo's heart sank. "So you told Dean Wilks where to find Hollie?" Then she realised what he had said and her hackles rose. "Do you still have the picture? Could we see it?"

As he left the room to fetch the photograph, Sam turned to her girlfriend warily. "What are you expecting the photo to tell you, Jo?"

"I don't know… but why would Ashton have a picture of Hollie in his house?"

"She was best mates with his girlfriend." The blonde reminded her. "Jo… calm down."

Ashton returned, holding out a framed photo to the brunette. Jo took it, her stomach doing cartwheels as she glanced down. At once relief surged through her as she looked at a picture of two teenage girls sitting on a park bench, obviously wrapped up against a very cold day. It was just an ordinary photo and not what she'd been dreading seeing.

Thanking him for his cooperation, the two women left the house and headed back to the station, each lost in their thoughts. Both Jo and Sam were trying to piece the different parts of information they'd heard together in order to make some sense of both Hollie's past and the kidnap investigation. At the moment it was proving more difficult than they'd imagined.

* * *

_**A/N: Hello sweeties!**_

_**Massive thank you to all of you for reading and thank you to stasiadove, LucyMaxine, loveinfinity and PondGirl11 for your reviews! If the rest of you have a spare minute to leave me a review I would be very grateful! :)**_

_**x**_


	47. Chapter 47

The next morning, the two detectives ventured into Sun Hill CID. Both of them found it incredibly odd being back in the station after being away for so long, despite the warm welcome they received.

Jo, in particular, couldn't settle. Her mind was churning over the information that Hallas and Ashton had given them about Hollie. There was something missing, Jo just wasn't sure what it was. It probably had no bearing on the kidnap, but the brunette couldn't rid her mind of the questions. She didn't want to talk to Nikki about it, unsure about how much her cousin knew about her daughter's past. Jo assumed it wasn't much and, at the moment, she wasn't keen on enlightening her.

"Stevie?" Jo said quickly, spotting the blonde DS heading out of the room. Moving quickly to catch her up, the brunette walked with her along the corridor. "Have you ever met Hollie Evans?"

"The misper from the case you're working on?" Stevie asked interestedly.

"Yeah… she was brought in here 24 times in thirteen months in 2010 and 2011." Jo told her, pausing to allow a PC through the door in front of her. "I was just wondering if there's anything that could help us track her down."

"You'd have to talk to uniform. Try Kirsty or Smithy… I know they both brought her in a few times."

"Alright, thanks…"

Watching the blonde heading in the direction of the canteen, Jo paused. She wondered whether it was worth questioning the officers about Hollie and decided that, even if she didn't find anything that could help track her down, they might be able to clear up some of the doubts she was having about the teenager's character.

The next decision was who to ask first. That, really, was settled by the fact that Kirsty was out and Smithy was in his office, catching up on paperwork. The brunette smiled as she entered the Inspector's office, closing the door behind her and seating herself comfortably in the seat in front of the desk before speaking.

"It's good to see you back here, Jo." Smithy said with a genuine smile before she could launch into her questioning.

"It's good to be back." She replied with a nod.

"I'm guessing this isn't strictly a social call?"

Jo smiled again. "No. Hollie Evans… tell me everything you can about her."

"Like what? I spoke to you about her before. She disappeared in Scotland, didn't she?"

"Mmm…" The woman nodded. "I'm just trying to get a clearer picture of her, because the description we were given of her from her school in Scotland doesn't really match up with what I've heard since. It might give us a new direction to look in."

"She was a strange one…" Smithy started with a sigh, leaning back in his seat. Jo tilted her head slightly as she listened, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. "Like I said before, she was a nice kid and I liked her. She wasn't like the Jasmine Allen Estate crowd she hung around with. But she could be tricky…"

"Tricky? In what way?"

"She was a right little fibber to begin with. The first couple of times she was brought in she used a false identity; told us she was Joanne Nicola Dixon."

"Any idea why she chose that particular name?" Jo asked. She remembered the information from CRIMINT and inwardly chuckled again at the teenager's choice of first names.

"Part of it. It turned out that Emma Dixon had been her best friend, but she died in a car crash not long after Hollie's fourteenth birthday. She used her name because she didn't want her grandparents to be told."

"Didn't you run any checks? Next of kin? Address?"

"She told us she was living with Mitchell Payne and that she was seventeen, so we didn't need to go looking for a guardian." Smithy said with a grim smile. "With no previous convictions, we didn't pick up on it. I admit that was our fault. We only realised that she'd been lying when Kirsty Knight and Roger Valentine were called to an incident at her school and spotted her. When she was asked about it, she broke down and told them the truth."

"What were her reasons?"

"Hollie said that her grandparents would kill her if they knew what she was getting up to. Apparently they threw her mum out when she got pregnant and Hollie said they'd almost definitely do the same to her if they found out she was friends with Payne and the rest. She said she had no other family that would want to take her in and, as much as she liked her mates, she didn't want to end up like them."

"Smart kid." Jo murmured. Then she pulled a face. "Sort of…" She thought about the fact that Hollie had assumed she wouldn't have been welcome to live with her and Sam and winced inwardly. "Anything else?"

"She was mainly just a hanger-on." Smithy said with a shrug. "Ninety-nine per cent of the times she was brought in it was a case of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. She's not a criminal, Jo, she's just a messed up kid."

"Apart from the two times she was caught shoplifting and the two times she was caught in possession of drugs, that is. Oh and being drunk and disorderly at fifteen." The brunette DS reminded him with an arched eyebrow.

Smithy sighed. "To be honest, I think she got freaked out that she was getting in too deep."

"What d'you mean?"

"Hollie Evans and Zoe Palmer were best mates around the time we first nicked Zoe for soliciting. Hollie was also friends with Gavin Ashton, Zoe's pimp. Well, I say they were mates but I think she was scared of him."

Jo tensed, fighting to remain impassive. "Scared?"

"Yeah… We had to go round to ask Ashton's whereabouts after an attack on a rival pimp and found Hollie in his house. She backed up his story that he'd been in his house all afternoon, but she didn't look at all comfortable with it. Kirsty tracked her down later and asked her if she was telling the truth, but Hollie refused to change her story."

"Did she say why she was there?"

"She claimed she was waiting for Zoe."

"I've heard that one before." Jo muttered with a sigh. "Is it possible that Hollie was working for Ashton? Might she have been covering for him because he was pimping her?"

The Inspector screwed up his face, considering her suggestion. "It's possible, but I wouldn't put money on it. Like I said, I think she realised she was out of her depth and was looking for a way out. It's not easy to just cut ties with people like Ashton and Payne."

"Was there ever any indication that Payne was violent towards Hollie?" Jo asked. "I spoke to Jayden Hallas earlier and he implied that he was."

"We were suspicious a couple of times, but she maintained that it was nothing to do with Payne and he was only too keen to point the finger in the direction of Hollie's grandparents." Seeing the tension that appeared on the woman's face he smiled grimly. "They weren't capable of bruising fruit and, when asked, Hollie laughed and denied it. We had our money on either Payne or Ashton, but we couldn't prove anything."

"Thanks, Smithy." The woman said with a weak smile.

As she rose to leave, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "There's more to this than you trying to piece together a background on a misper, isn't there?"

Jo turned to look at him and sighed. "Hollie's mum, Nikki, is my cousin. Me and Hollie were really close until she was about ten; I did my best to watch out for her. I just can't believe she went this low."

"That explains why she told us she was called Joanne Nicola. It also explains why she was begging to be taken to any other station the first time we brought her in. She was obviously terrified of running into you."

"I just wish she had run into me. I can't believe I didn't see her…" The woman told him with a sharp exhalation of breath. She sank back down in the seat, putting her head in her hands. "Do you remember that case, five or so years ago; those underage girls being targeted and emotionally broken down, before being trafficked around the country and pimped out? They picked on girls who wouldn't be missed too much. I was terrified that Hollie might be one of them. While we were working on that case I went round to visit her several times and she was never there. Her grandmother told me that she was just out, but I wasn't sure. She was about the right age and she was vulnerable. That's why I got so involved and so attached to Jen. I couldn't stop thinking they'd got Hols."

"But they hadn't and, from what I've seen of her, she can take care of herself." Smithy told her reassuringly. "Besides, with you looking out for her she'll be alright."

She sent him a weak smile and headed to the office door. "Thanks again."

"Look, Jo… if you want to know more, talk to Kirsty. She and Hollie got close for a while; there might be something she can tell you that I can't."

Nodding, the DS headed out of the office. In the corridor, Jo leant against the wall heavily and rubbed her hands over her face. What Smithy had said had put her mind more at rest than it had been, but there were now more urgent questions bothering her. She now knew of at least two occasions when Hollie had been alone with Ashton in his house. Both times she had used the flimsy excuse that she was waiting for Zoe Palmer and now it seemed like Hollie had been scared enough of Ashton to give him an alibi.


	48. Chapter 48

"Sarge?" A familiar female voice called softly, accompanied by a hand on her arm.

Jo glanced up and saw the concerned face of PC Kirsty Knight looking at her closely. Smiling, she nodded and straightened up, smoothing her cardigan in an attempt to regain her composure. "Kirsty, just the woman I needed to see."

"What can I do for you?"

"Do you remember a teenage girl called Hollie Evans?"

The blonde PC nodded. "Yeah, Hollie, I remember her well; sweet kid on the whole."

Leading the woman to one of the interview rooms, Jo closed the door behind them and sat heavily in one of the chairs at the table. "Hollie was abducted on her way to school eleven days ago. I've heard several conflicting statements about her and was wondering whether you could shed some light?"

"Yeah, course… What d'you want to know?"

"Well, firstly, I hear that you were the one who got Hollie to admit her real name. What did she tell you?"

"From what I remember, Roger and I got called to an incident at her school, Canley High, at the beginning of March 2011. I didn't recognise her at first in her school uniform; she looked totally different from the Hollie I was used to seeing. She looked so much younger without the makeup and jewellery and in different clothes. Obviously the fact that she was in year 10 made me realise that she wasn't seventeen after all. When I knew she was younger than she'd told us she was, I realised that she might be lying about other things and asked her teacher, who confirmed her name was Hollie Evans not Jo Dixon and she was only fifteen."

"And you spoke to her about it?"

Kirsty nodded. "I did. When she realised we knew she'd been lying, she was worried. I asked why she'd lied and she told me that her grandfather was ill and she didn't want us going round hassling him. Hollie seemed really scared of the fact that we might speak to her grandparents. I pressed her a bit more and she told me that they'd be so angry if they found out that they'd probably throw her out. She was scared that she would have to live with her boyfriend, who was friends with Gavin Ashton."

"Why would that scare her?" Jo asked, wondering whether she was about to find out the answer to another of her questions.

"She wouldn't say." The blonde said with a grim smile. "But my money would be on her being scared she'd end up working for him to earn money. I doubt Mitchell Payne would have let her get away with not paying her way, even if she was his girlfriend."

"So you don't think she was working for Gavin Ashton?"

"I don't think so." Kirsty said, not sounding completely certain. The DS groaned inwardly, hearing yet another non-denial that Hollie had been an underage prostitute. "We never had any information to say she was. We got Zoe Palmer and numerous others countless times, but we never even heard a whisper of Hollie's name."

Taking this as a positive sign, Jo nodded. "Right, so that was March 2011… but she was given a reprimand for possessing cannabis that same month. Was it before or after?"

"About two weeks after."

"You've got a good memory." The brunette said with a smirk.

Kirsty laughed. "Smithy said you'd phoned to ask about Hollie and I decided to look a few things up. She really wasn't a bad kid and I did like her."

"That's what Smithy said, too." Jo murmured thoughtfully. "As did Hallas and Ashton…"

"I think Jayden Hallas had a thing for Hollie." The blonde PC said suddenly, to the older woman's surprise. "There were a couple of incidents that… well… the first time was when we caught Hollie with drugs. She was with Mitchell Payne, but when we brought them in Hollie was given a reprimand and we found nothing on him. Later on that same day we were called to a disturbance at Payne's flat. Hollie was nowhere to be seen, but Hallas was there and Payne had obviously been beaten up. He refused to tell us who'd done it, but we guessed it must have been Hallas. I saw Hollie the next day and she let slip that before she left the two men alone in Payne's flat she'd mentioned that she'd been done for drugs."

"So she tells Hallas she got into trouble, presumably because she was given the drugs to carry by her boyfriend, and the next thing we know said boyfriend has been beaten up by Hallas." Jo nodded, understanding what the young woman was getting at.

"Then about six months later we were called to a domestic at Mitchell Payne's flat. He and Hollie had been screaming at each other and when we arrived he'd obviously smacked her. Neither of them would say what was going on and she claimed that she'd been accidently hit earlier in a fight somewhere else."

"Jayden Hallas mentioned this when I went to see him earlier." Jo told her, remembering what the young man had said. "He claimed that the reason for the argument was that Payne had found Hollie in Ashton's house and didn't believe that she was just there to wait for Zoe. Maybe Hallas wanted answers from both of them?"

Kirsty smirked. "That explains why Ashton was walking around with a black eye for the next couple of days, not to mention Payne looking like he'd done ten rounds in a boxing ring."

"That certainly would explain it." Jo agreed with a smirk. "Was that domestic the last time you saw Hollie?"

"It was the last time we brought her in, as you probably know." Kirsty said, shooting the brunette a grin. "But I've seen her a couple of times since then. She was still mates with Zoe Palmer so she was round the Jasmine Allen Estate for a bit. The last time I saw her was earlier this year, maybe May, when I spotted her with Gavin Ashton. I went to have a little chat when he'd gone and Hollie apologised for her behaviour and told me that she regretted being such an idiot with the drugs and things and was concentrating on looking after her grandparents."

Jo narrowed her eyes at the mention of Ashton. "Did you ask her why she was meeting Ashton?"

"Hollie claimed she'd borrowed something off Zoe and this was the only chance she'd had to get it back to her, because of her grandparents always being on her case."

"Did she say what it was she'd borrowed?"

Kirsty shrugged. "I can't remember; I don't think so."

"Did it look as though she'd given him anything?"

"I really can't remember, Sarge." The blonde admitted with a shrug.

"Well did he give her anything?"

"No, I'm sure he didn't." She said firmly, shaking her head. "I offered Hollie a lift home because she kept looking at her phone while we were talking. I asked her what the matter was and she told me that if she wasn't home on time her Nan would go mad. She made me drop her off round the corner, though."

Jo chuckled, not surprised that the teenager wouldn't have wanted to be dropped off outside her grandparents' house in a police car. "Did her grandparents know about her record? I'm guessing that once you found out her real identity they did."

"Yeah… Hollie was far from happy when they were told. She wasn't around the Estate at all for a couple of weeks afterwards and, when she reappeared, she was much jumpier than usual." There was a long pause as Jo turned over this information in her mind. She guessed that Hollie's fears that she'd be thrown out by her grandparents were the opposite of what had actually happened and the teenager had ended up under house arrest. "Sarge… d'you think any of this is connected to why she was abducted."

The brunette shrugged and leant back in the chair, breathing out deeply. "I don't know… I doubt it. We're sure we know who's behind it, but we've also found a link between Hallas and Ashton and our kidnapping suspects that we weren't expecting."

"So her past could be significant?"

"I definitely think it explains how they tracked Hollie down, although it was probably an accident on Ashton and Zoe Palmer's part."


	49. Chapter 49

"DS Masters." Jo said distractedly, picking up the receiver of the desk phone and holding it to her ear. Her eyes never left the document in her hand.

"I've got someone down here asking for you or DI Nixon, Sarge." The SRO on the reception desk said. If Jo wasn't mistaken there was a hint of disdain in his voice that made her curious as to the identity of her visitor.

"Who is it?"

"Zoe Palmer."

Furrowing her eyebrows slightly, Jo put down her paperwork. "I'll be right down."

Heading quickly down the stairs from CID, Jo spotted the tall, black girl before she'd even stepped through the doors into the reception area.

"Alright Zoe?" A uniformed PC asked as she opened the door. "You not working tonight then?"

Clearing her throat, the DS shot the man a warning glance, before smiling warmly at the teenager. "Hi, Zoe, I'm Jo Masters." She motioned towards the door of the room to the right of where they were standing. "Shall we go in here and have a little chat?"

Zoe nodded and allowed herself to be ushered into the room. She sat nervously at the table as Jo closed the door and moved to sit opposite her. Smiling warmly, the brunette watched the girl for a moment. Seeing how nervous Zoe was, she waited for her to make the first move, in an attempt to let her feel in control of the situation.

"Gavin said you were at the house last night asking questions about Hollie?" Zoe said after a few moments. "He said she's been kidnapped. Is she OK?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Jo told her softly. "If you think you know anything that might help us track her down then you really need to tell me."

"I dunno. But... Are you sure she's been kidnapped?"

"What d'you mean?"

The girl looked uncomfortable and there was a long pause before she answered. "It's just... She always said that if she got enough money she was gonna run away and go looking for her Mum. She felt trapped at her grandparents' house and she was always really guilty about them. I think they made her feel like... I dunno... She wasn't wanted or something." Zoe glanced up and Jo nodded encouragingly, not wanting to stop her while she was telling her what she knew. It might not help, but saying that would make the teenager clam up. "Hollie wanted answers from her Mum about why she was left with her grandparents, but whenever she saw her she didn't want to ask in case her Mum didn't come back."

"How was she planning on getting money to run away?"

Zoe shrugged. "I don't know. To begin with she was always pretty skint, but then suddenly she had cash. I asked her about it and she said that it was from her family or something."

"Did she say who in her family?" Jo asked, wondering if anyone on the Evans side had been in contact with Hollie after all. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps Hollie had been in contact with the Wilks brothers. Dismissing the thought hastily, she forced herself to tune back in to what the girl was saying.

"She never said. Apart from her mum and grandparents she only ever mentioned an Auntie, though, so it might have been her."

Jo felt a knot tighten in her stomach. "Did she give a name?"

The teenager thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Nah... She just mentioned her once. Her Nan had gone mental at her for something and Hollie was really wound up. Mitch had gone to get..." She hesitated, looking at the DS for reassurance that she could continue the sentence.

"Go on."

"Mitch had gone to get her something to calm her down and while he was gone I asked whether she had tracked down her mum, yet. Hollie said no, but she had found her Auntie's address in Manchester. I asked if she was gonna go there, you know, to get away from her grandparents. She said no; her Auntie probably wouldn't want to see her because Hollie had been a right cow to her every time she went to visit. Then I said yeah, but she still kept visiting, so she obviously wanted to see her. Hollie told me she hadn't seen her Auntie for a couple of months and besides, she was a cop so she would probably be really upset with her getting into trouble and Hollie didn't want her to know. Then she wondered whether her Auntie had found out about her getting nicked and whether that was why she hadn't seen her in ages."

Jo leant back in her chair, her head reeling from Zoe's admission. She had known at the time that she should have made an effort to visit Hollie more often, but she'd always been so busy with work and Sam and Sam's daughter and grandson. Besides, Hollie had always seemed so wary of her; especially the last few times they'd met. Now it was obvious that that teenager was scared Jo would turn her back if she realised what she was getting up to.

Nikki had told her that Hollie was suffering from abandonment issues and now Jo wondered whether she had added to them. Guilt crashed over her in waves, but she managed to keep her face under control enough to smile at Zoe across the table.

"Thanks, Zoe. This is a massive help, being able to understand what might have been going on in Hollie's head. Can you remember the last time you spoke to Hollie?"

The teenager paused. "About two weeks ago, I think. She told me that she was living with her mum and her sister on her dad's side had turned up. Oh..."

"What?"

"Well if Hols was living with her mum, she can't have run away to find her. Unless she ran away from her?"

Jo shook her head. "No, we're sure she was abducted."

"Right..."

"You've been a huge help, Zoe, thank you." The brunette said, seeing the worried expression on the girl's face and trying to reassure her. "If you think of anything else, give me a ring."

Hunting in her pockets, Jo found a pen and a scrap of paper and scribbled down her mobile number. Zoe looked at it for a moment, before tucking it into the small shoulder bag on the table between them.

"Gavin said you asked him about Dean Wilks?" She said slowly, keeping her gaze firmly on the table. Jo held her breath nervously. "The day he came down and asked about the photo of Hol and stuff... I had to go out and I passed by the garages. He didn't recognise me, but I heard him on the phone."

"What did he say? Try and remember exactly what you heard."

"He said... He mentioned the school Hollie was at and then he said something about making it a round trip and picking up the other one on the way. Whoever he was talking obviously annoyed him, because he got angry and said that something was waiting for collection."

"Did he say what was ready to be collected?"

Zoe shook her head. "No... But there was a name; Harker or Harder or something."

"Hadder?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Jo nodded. Paul Hadder had been under surveillance in Manchester for months under suspicion of importing and supplying firearms. If Dean Wilks was collecting something from him it could only mean one thing.

"And then... He said that the tortoise beat the hare and that they'd have to be on the lookout for bears on a picnic."

Jo frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah… I remember that because it makes no sense. But then I walked round the corner so I didn't hear anything else."

Smiling and feeling as though somewhere in that cryptic message the answers to Hollie and Natalie's whereabouts were hidden, Jo stood up.

"Thank you so much for all that, Zoe. Can I get you a lift home?"

"Nah, you're alright." The girl declined, picking up her bag and pulling on her jacket. "I've got to get back to work. Just... tell Hols to give me a ring, yeah?"

Promising that she would, Jo watched as the young prostitute headed out of the station into the dark night. Not allowing herself to dwell on her pity, Jo almost ran up the stairs to CID, intending to follow up Zoe's information about Paul Hadder.

* * *

_**A/N: Hi guys! I'm posting this early, because of the threat of the World ending and all that... and also I'm going out with my mates in a bit. Haha!**_

**_Thank you all for reading, as always. Thank you PondGirl11 and Lauren for your reviews! :)_**

**_x_**


	50. Chapter 50

"I think we should go and see my Aunt." Jo said suddenly, glancing up from the piles of paperwork on Monday. She'd been turning over everything she'd learnt over the last couple of days in her mind and it was driving her mad.

"Why?" Sam demanded. "What could she possibly tell us that we don't already know and that would be any help in finding Hollie?"

"I want to know why she did nothing to stop Hollie getting into trouble. I mean… she was reprimanded three times in six months for three different offences, not to mention receiving two warnings. Anne obviously knew about all of this. And why was she letting Hollie run around on the Jasmine Allen Estate? She can't not have heard about all that trouble with the Carly Samuels murder, let alone everything else that goes on there. And she sent Hollie to Canley High and you and I both know that school's reputation. How many times have we both been there about drugs or weapons or gangs? I know my Aunt and she spent her time trying to fool people into thinking she was posher than she was. This makes no sense."

"Listen to me, Jo." Her superior said in a low voice, leaning down so that only the brunette could hear her. "If you can't stay professional then I will take you off this case. I don't have a choice; you know that. Knowing why Anne let Hollie get into trouble isn't going to help us find her. We've got a lead and we can almost definitely be sure that the Wilks brothers are behind the abduction. I know this is difficult, but you have to act as though Hollie is just another kid."

"But if we just…"

"I said no." Sam reminded her forcefully, straightening up and resuming her position perched on the desk. She folded her arms. "Get onto Kevin and found out whether they've managed to track down the Wilks brothers yet."

Jo nodded, slightly bitterly, and picked up the receiver of the phone on the desk. "Sam… I don't understand all this." She admitted. "How could Hollie have a criminal record and be so involved with people like Ashton and Hallas and none of us know about it?"

"What teenagers get up to can be a complete mystery; you know that as well as I do, Jo."

"Yes, but… Anne threw Nikki out when she realised she was pregnant. Why would she let Hollie get away with all this?"

"Have you told Nikki, yet?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

Sighing, Jo shook her head. "How can I?"

"It's better she finds out from you."

"Nikki will just blame herself." The brunette said. "It can wait until we find Hollie."

Realising that she wouldn't be able to change Jo's mind, Sam nodded and headed into the DI's office. She sat heavily in the desk chair and screwed up her face, deep in thought. Moving papers around in front of her, she reviewed the information they had carefully, trying to spot something that they might have missed. They had already started a timeline of events, but Sam pulled a piece of paper towards her and started creating her own, helping to organise her thoughts.

**Monday February 4****th**** 2013 – approximately 17:30 **

Natalie Williams kidnapped from Maidstone Avenue, Manchester

**Wednesday February 6****th**** 2013 – approximately 8:20**

Hollie Evans kidnapped from Finnart Street, Greenock

**Monday February 11****th**** 2013 – 16:30**

Call from Hollie Evans' mobile traced to Towsbank Wood, 25 minutes East of Carlisle

**Monday February 11****th**** 2013 – 17:09**

White van, registered to Steven Lewis, caught on a traffic camera just outside Penrith

**Wednesday February 13****th**** 2013 – 21:00**

White van spotted in Kendal, Cumbria heading south on the A65

**Monday February 18****th**** 2013 – 17:10**

The blue Ford belonging to Alan Henderson spotted heading North through Leeds

The last entry on her timeline had only been phoned through to them about half an hour before and Sam stared at it for a couple of moments, her mind turning over the information. Standing up, she moved to the office door and opened it. Jo was still sitting at her desk frowning at the screen of her computer.

"A word?" Sam called, meeting her girlfriend's eye and blushing lightly as she realised she'd been caught staring at her.

"Yes, Guv…" Jo agreed slowly, obviously still a little annoyed with her for putting her foot down about the brunette's desire to visit her Aunt.

Once the DS was in the office with the door closed behind her, Sam perched on the desk, folding her arms and looking at the wall opposite. Jo saw that she was staring at a map with several red pins stuck in it. "I was thinking… we've put pins in the places we've linked to the kidnap case and it seems that they're heading back to Manchester."

"Yes…" Jo muttered, as though Sam was a small child pointing out the obvious.

"But why have they taken such a roundabout route? We did the journey in four hours on the M6. What's the point in them hanging around? Why has it taken them almost two weeks to move the girls to Harrogate? And why Harrogate, anyway? Surely they realise it's a bigger risk not taking a direct route."

The brunette moved closer to the map, scrutinising it carefully. "Well maybe they realise we're not the only ones looking for them." She pointed out meaningfully. "They'd be stupider than they look to think the Evans boys won't be after them. We know that they were here," she tapped at the map next to the first red pin, "on the eleventh; the sixth day Hollie was missing. So either they went somewhere else before that or they were there for a week. Have Northumbria Police checked it out?"

"Of course. They searched a derelict cottage in the wood when we traced the signal from Hollie's mobile and discovered signs that someone had been there recently."

"Anything specific to Hollie or Natalie?"

Sam nodded. "They found the smashed remains of Hollie's mobile."

"Any… blood or other DNA…"

"Nothing significant, Jo."

DS Masters raised an eyebrow as she turned to face the smaller woman, realising that there was something she wasn't being told. "Nothing significant? So there was something?"

"There was a small amount of blood found in the cottage. Forensics have confirmed that it was Hollie's. But don't start panicking, Jo… it really was a tiny amount. It could have been a nosebleed or a small cut or anything."

"Right… so the next sighting."

Sam moved to stand beside Jo, staring at the map as well. "The white van belonging to Steven Lewis was caught by a traffic camera outside Penrith doing almost twice the speed limit at about ten past five. That's… about forty minutes after the phone call Nikki reported. My guess is that the line went dead because the kidnappers realised that we could trace the call. They spooked and bolted heading towards Manchester. It would usually take almost an hour to make that journey and they apparently made some attempt to remove any evidence from the cottage, so they must really have put their foot down."

"So Hollie's call must have really scared them." Jo nodded. "But do we think they were planning to move them before heading back to Manchester or has this caused them to change their plans?"

Pausing, the DI pursed her lips, considering Jo's words. "I don't know. But they obviously stopped somewhere else, so perhaps it was planned. Remember, Zoe said she heard Wilks say, 'the tortoise beats the hare'. Aesop's Fables… slow and steady wins the race."

"So they were always intending to draw this out; create maximum panic?" She sighed. "What's next?"

"The next sighting we have of the white van is two days later, which would indicate they had somewhere to stay in between."

"Mmm… Traffic cops caught it on the A65 near Kendal at about nine o'clock. The guy thought it was suspicious so he radioed it in and they informed us because it flashed up on the database." Jo recalled slowly, pacing around the office. "So where were they in those two days?"

"No idea. But there are five days between that and the sighting of the blue Ford owned by Jonny Henderson's father in Leeds this evening."

"Is someone on that?"

"Yeah…"

"What?" Jo demanded.

"They lost them."

"What?" The brunette hissed in disbelief. "How could they lose them?"

Sam sighed. "They were followed for over half an hour, but they lost sight of them two and a half miles outside Harrogate." She moved to the map and paused for a moment, before tapping a nail on it. "Just there…"

"So where could they possibly have gone?"

"Straight along that road there is Knaresborough. But they can't have gone that way because, according to the officers that were tailing them, they had a view for miles along that road." The DI shrugged. "The only way they could have gone is along this lane here. Uniform followed them, but they were nowhere to be seen."

"What else is round that area?" Jo asked, peering closely at the map.

"Nothing much… fields and woods."

She looked at the brunette, who was returning her gaze, open-mouthed. Zoe had heard Wilks say, 'be on the lookout for bears on a picnic'. At once, the children's song about going down to the woods in disguise entered both their heads and the cryptic clue suddenly made sense. Sam moved quickly to her desk and snatched up the phone, punching in a number and waiting impatiently for the call to connect.

"DCI Mellor? It's Sam… the car you were trailing from Leeds earlier this evening… yeah… could they have got into the woods? That's where we need to be looking… any form of shelter hidden in the woods is probably where they are. Alright… keep me informed." As she hung up, she realised that Jo was on the verge of opening the office door. "Oi! Where d'you think you're going?"

"We've got to get up there."

"It's a four hour drive, Jo… there's no point us going up unless we know the girls are there. It'll just mean turning round and coming back again. If they find Hollie I promise you we'll leave straight away, babe. But think about Nikki… you can't get her hopes up that this is it."

Realising the blonde was right, the DS nodded and turned around, leaning heavily on the door. "So what, Sam? We just wait?"

Sam nodded slowly. "We just wait."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you for reading, as always!**_

_**Massive thank yous to LucyMaxine and PondGirl11 for reviewing! :) I know I say it a lot, but I REALLY do appreciate it!**_


	51. Chapter 51

As soon as they arrived back at Phil's house, Jo excused herself and went upstairs to have a bath. Nikki shot Sam a questioning look as her cousin left the room refusing to meet her eyes, but the blonde was reluctant to answer any questions that the brunette might be intending to throw her way.

"Phil back yet?"

Nikki shook her head. "He called about twenty minutes ago to say he was caught in the middle of something and not to wait up."

"Fancy a takeaway?" The blonde suggested, not feeling particularly like cooking.

"I'll get the menus."

Sam smiled as Nikki headed out into the hallway. In the three days they'd been staying with Phil Hunter, the brunette had already worked out where the takeaway menus were kept. That said a lot for Phil's domesticity, as did the sheer volume of menus he had. They decided on Chinese, with Sam popping up to ask Jo what she wanted. The blonde almost had to bribe her girlfriend to order some food.

"Is Jo alright?" Nikki asked as soon as her companion hung up the phone and returned to the living room, placing a large glass of wine in front of her.

Sam considered her answer for a moment, curling her legs up underneath her and rolling her own wine glass between her hands. "I've only ever seen her this… obsessed… with a couple cases before. Her informant, Seth, got into a bit of trouble on an undercover op he was on with Jo. She blamed herself and almost went mad trying to track him down."

"What happened?" The brunette asked, wondering why she'd never heard about the incident before.

"Jo went after him alone and the man who was after Seth caught up with them. He, Danny Castle, shot Seth in front of Jo and turned the gun on her. If Jack hadn't arrived…"

Nikki squeezed her eyes closed at the thought of what might have happened. "How long ago was that?"

"December 2006… a couple of months before we got together."

"What was the other case?"

"Vulnerable underage girls were being targeted and trafficked around the country. Jo told me she was scared she might see Hollie's face or hear her name among them." Sam admitted, seeing the look on Nikki's face at her words.

"But… this is understandable though, Jo getting really into the case, I mean. Hollie is family, after all."

"I know. Jo shouldn't even be on the case. I said she could stay with it as long as she stayed professional, but today…" Sam stopped abruptly, looking away from the brunette and taking a long drink from her glass.

"What happened today?"

Sam sighed, knowing she had no choice but to explain. She decided to keep all the conversations her girlfriend had had about the teenager to herself for now and focus on the sightings. "We might have had a break through. And I'm saying might because it could be a long shot. There was a sighting and Jo wanted to drive up to the place we've pinpointed, but I suggested we wait until we know for sure. The call should come in anytime now. I also thought we should keep it from you until we had something definite to say. But now I've…"

"Now you've told me." Nikki replied, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Thank you, Sam. Even if it is nothing, I need to know. What else don't I know?"

Wondering whether she was about to seriously regret her decision, Sam indicated for Nikki to wait, before heading upstairs to fetch Jo. The brunette was sitting on the bed in the spare room she and her girlfriend were sharing while they stayed with Phil. Apologetically Sam told her about the conversation she'd just had with Nikki. Jo sighed and stood up, scraping her damp hair back into a messy bun and headed downstairs.

"Jo? Sam said you'd had a lead." Nikki said as soon as she saw her cousin in the doorway. "What's happening?"

"We ran a PNC check on the blue car you said Hollie thought was following her." Jo told her, dropping onto the sofa beside the other woman and reaching to take the wine glass out of her hand, stealing a gulp. "It's registered to an Alan Henderson."

"Who's he?"

"He's the father of Jonny Henderson, who's married to the cousin of Dean and Adrian Wilks."

"Wilks?" Nikki murmured. "Why does that name ring a bell?"

"They used to hang around with the Evans brothers when we were kids." Jo reminded her. "There was a big falling out a while back and since then they've been involved in a kind of turf war. We think the kidnap might be the next stage in the fight."

"So, what was this sighting Sam mentioned?"

"Henderson's car was spotted heading North through Leeds earlier this evening. Local police followed them, but they seemed to vanish about 2 and a half miles out of Harrogate." The older woman stood up and moved into the kitchen, topping up Nikki's glass and pouring a fresh one for herself. "I had a visit from a friend of Hollie's, a Zoe Palmer, who overheard Dean Wilks on the phone to someone else. He gave a cryptic clue about woods and there was a large area around where they lost Henderson's car."

"So you're thinking the car was going to where Hollie is?"

"Possibly. It was heading North whereas the girls seem to be heading South; back towards Manchester."

Sam glanced across as her mobile started ringing. Excusing herself from the room, she went into the hall, pulling the door closed behind her before answering the phone.

"DI Nixon." She almost snapped, eager for information. "What've we got, Guv?"

"Sam, it's mixed news I'm afraid." Her DCI told her, his voice sounding strained. "By the time we found what we were looking for there was no one around."

The blonde was a little fearful about what she might hear next. "What did you find?"

"We followed tyre marks to some kind of shed in the wood. There were indications of a struggle and we discovered two coats inside. My guess is that the kidnappers realised they'd been tracked down, panicked and left straight away. I'm assuming the girls put up a bit of a fight, hence the overturned chairs and discarded coats. We've sent photos back to CID for identification."

"Any signs of injury?"

"Nothing."

"Right, thanks for letting me know, Guv." Sam sighed. "Where do we go from here?"

"A white van has been reported driving dangerously heading South on the A1. It'll take time but, knowing that they're almost definitely heading to a wooded area, that's what we're going on at the moment."

"OK. Jo and I will get back to Manchester tomorrow. There's nothing more we can do here and I have a feeling that this will be coming to an end soon, one way or another."

x-x

As Sam left the room, closing the door behind her, Nikki turned to her cousin seriously. "I think Sam's worried about you, Jo. She didn't say as much," the brunette told her quickly, seeing a familiar defensive glare appearing on Jo's face, "but I could tell. She told me about Seth Mercer and a case you worked on with some underage girls and how you were scared you might find Hollie was involved."

"Look, I just want to find your daughter and bring her home, alright?"

"I know you do. But I don't want you burning yourself out or doing something stupid. Hollie wouldn't want you putting yourself in a dangerous situation or getting hurt." Nikki smiled weakly. "Besides, you're practically my sister. I don't know what I'd do without you around to talk sense into me."

Jo smirked, using humour as her defence mechanism as usual. "What's this? Nikki Boston getting all soppy on me after two glasses of wine?"

"Excuse me; one glass. You drank most of the first, remember Ms Masters?"

"Even worse then."

Nikki laughed softly. "I mean it, Jo… please be careful."

Reaching out, Jo squeezed her hand. The younger woman chuckled and pulled hard, causing her cousin to lurch sideways, almost spilling her wine as she almost toppled into her. They both started to laugh and Jo rested her head on Nikki's shoulder with a sigh. Absent-mindedly, the younger woman began to stroke her hair, deep in thought. They stayed in the same position as Sam reappeared in the room and informed them of the latest developments.

* * *

_**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all have a FABULOUS DAY! :D**_

_**x**_


	52. Chapter 52

Closing her eyes tightly, Hollie pulled her arm down as hard as she could, feeling the roughness of the rope scraping the skin of her hand as she tried to wriggle it free. Taking shallow breaths and trying not to gag on the material tied around her mouth, the teenager stopped for a moment, feeling flooding back into her hand and making it burn with pain. After a couple of seconds' respite, she returned her attention to freeing her right hand until, with an excruciating amount of pain as the rope scraped against her flesh, she felt it slide free.

Pulling the cloth out of her mouth and leaving it around her neck, she reached up to scrub the tears away from her eyes. Then she pushed her freed hand under her armpit, clamping it tightly in place for a moment until the stinging subsided.

"Nat? You OK?" She hissed, knowing that she wouldn't get a coherent response. All she wanted was any sign that her sister was alright. When the muffled reply came, Hollie breathed a sigh of relief. "Give me two minutes and I'll–"

Both girls jumped as a loud bang echoed around them. Several more loud bangs followed it and Hollie was convinced they were gunshots. She reached out desperately and tried to grab Natalie's arm with the hand she had managed to free from the rope tying it to the metal grating above her head. The older girl was just out of her reach, so Hollie turned her attention to trying to undo the rope around her other wrist. That one was much tighter and she tore at it desperately, feeling her nails catching and tearing on the rope. Ignoring the pain, she carried on working on the knot until she felt it loosening enough to wrench her hand free.

Around them they could hear arguing and more bangs. Wincing, Hollie half hobbled, half hopped closer to her sister, reaching up to untie the gag from her mouth.

"You alright?" She demanded, reaching up and starting to work on the ropes securing Natalie to the grating.

"Yeah… D'you have any idea what's going on out there?"

Hollie exhaled in frustration, getting more desperate as the knots refused to yield. "About as much idea as you. Probably less…"

"Are those… guns?" Natalie asked weakly, shaking even more as another couple of bangs echoed around them.

Finally freeing one hand, the younger girl paused and glanced at her. "I can't say I'm an expert but I'd say yes, which is why we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Natalie nodded and leant heavily against the metal behind her as Hollie struggled with the remaining rope attaching her to the grating. She dragged at the knot desperately, getting more and more agitated as it refused to work loose. The older girl's breathing was getting more difficult and she had closed her eyes. Anxiously, Hollie started murmuring quietly to her sister, trying to make sure she didn't lose consciousness. The cut on Natalie's forehead was still bleeding slightly, but Hollie was sure the shallow stab wound in her side was probably worse.

With a quiet exclamation of triumph, Hollie managed to get the rope loose enough to slide Natalie's hand through. After a quick examination of her injuries, the younger girl removed her jumper and pulled it over her sister's head. Natalie was freezing, but there wasn't much she could do at the moment. Pressing Natalie's right hand to the wound on her side gently in an attempt to stem the flow of blood, Hollie shot her a reassuring smile, before pulling the older girl's left arm over her shoulder and almost carrying her away from the grating. It was difficult with her ankle screaming at her with every step, but the younger sister kept going.

Looking left and right, she tried to work out the best direction to take to find whatever safety was available. Wherever they were being held was almost pitch black and, with Hollie's injured ankle and Natalie's blood loss, they were making slow progress through the darkness. Feeling around with her free hand, the seventeen-year-old dragged her sister towards a small square of light in the distance. She didn't know what it was, or whether it would help them or not, but it had to be better than sitting around in the dark just waiting.

They passed through a doorway and the seventeen-year-old paused. Leaning Natalie gently against the wall for support, she pushed the door closed behind them, looking around for something to barricade it with. Using almost all the energy she had left, Hollie pulled a small metal cabinet halfway across the door, covering the hinges, before she was forced to stop. Leaning heavily against it, she glanced around for something else. Moving away, she returned a couple of moments later with three metal bars, which she propped against the door, holding it closed.

,

Satisfied, the teenager resumed her grip on her sister and started moving towards the light again. A loud rumbling sound made Hollie jump and almost drop Natalie. An instinctive giggle rose up in her throat as she realised the sound had been made by her stomach. That forced her to remember that she hadn't eaten for a long time and that thought made her stomach growl again. Blocking her hunger from her mind, the teenager resumed her attempts to find a way out.

Suddenly she realised that her sister seemed heavier and stopped, lowering Natalie gently to the ground and crouching beside her. "Nat? Nat… come on! Wake up!"

The only response she received was a weak groan, which increased Hollie's panic. She knew enough about injuries to know that if Natalie lost consciousness it was not a good thing. Listening to the continued sounds of fighting coming from somewhere close by, she weighed up her options. On one hand, she could stay with Natalie and wait to see what would happen. On the other hand, she could leave her sister for a couple of moments and see where the light was coming from. Hollie knew she had to investigate, but she was terrified of leaving Natalie unattended, even for a moment.

"Nat… just hang on, OK. I'm gonna get us out of here. Don't go to sleep, right?" She ordered in a low voice, making up her mind.

Climbing unsteadily to her feet once more, Hollie hobbled as quickly as she could towards the light. It was further away than it had seemed and the girl was glad that the sounds still seemed far away. She couldn't help worrying whether she should have tried to pull Natalie with her, but deep down Hollie knew that would just have slowed her down even more.

Reaching the light source, she realised that it was an old-fashioned sash window, just big enough for someone her size to climb out of. For a moment she was delighted at the find, then she realised that even if she managed to get out with her ankle as it was, there was no way Natalie would make it. Disappointed, Hollie rubbed the dirt away from the lower panes of glass with her shirt sleeve and peered through it. As she saw the drop below the window, the girl was relieved that she hadn't seriously considered climbing out. Quickly, she counted the windows in the wall opposite and worked out that they must be on the fifth floor.

Hollie was about to turn and head back to Natalie, when something caught her attention and she leant closer to the dirty glass to get a better look. At least ten cars had drawn up in the space below the window. The last vehicle to arrive had been moving so fast that it screeched loudly as it came to a halt. Fighting the urge to go and check on her sister, Hollie watched as the front doors on the recently parked car opened and the figures headed into the crowd milling around below her; some wearing police uniform and others not.

Struck by sudden inspiration, the teenager struggled with the sash window, fighting against the stiffness and managing to force it open. Hollie froze as the wood squeaked; the noise extra loud in the silence. Her heart pounded noisily in her chest and she was sure it was audible where Natalie was. When no sound of running footsteps or shouts reached her ears, Hollie resumed what she was doing, pushing the window as far up as possible. No one outside seemed to have noticed the movement, their gaze focused far below her, but Hollie didn't dare call out in case someone else heard. Carefully, she reached down and pulled off her left trainer, leaving her injured foot bare, before pulling herself up onto the narrow wooden ledge that ran along the wall beneath the window. Kneeling on it and praying that it wouldn't collapse under her weight, she leant as far out of the window as she dared and threw her shoe into the crowd of people below her.

To her relief, it bounced harmlessly on the ground, not hitting anyone. Her actions had the desire effect and instantly the crowd below looked up, obviously preparing themselves for attack. As they spotted her, many started pointing and a couple of figures retreated to the cars. Realising that help was coming, Hollie dropped back into the room, barely noticing the loud rip as her top caught on the jagged wood of the ledge.

"Help's coming, Nat." She murmured exhaustedly as she reached her sister's side and curled up beside her. "Come on, wake up…"

* * *

_**A/N: I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas! x**_


	53. Chapter 53

"Sarge?" DC Ellis called, glancing up towards where the DS was pacing backwards and forwards in agitation. It had been almost a week since the three women had left London and returned to Manchester. There had been no new sightings and no new leads to help them find Hollie and Natalie in that time and all three were getting desperate. Hollie had been missing for almost three weeks now and it was getting more and more difficult to stay positive that they would find her alive. "Nikki Boston's had another call from an unknown mobile. It was just a lot of muffled noise, but she could hear her daughter's voice clearly in the background. The boys from TIU are tracing it now."

Jo shook her head and grinned, despite how concerned she was. "That's my girl. I knew Hollie would think of a way to help us find her."

"What's going on?" Sam asked, poking her head around the door of her office.

"Hollie's phoned Nikki again. They're tracing the call now."

Grabbing her jacket, Sam picked up her car keys. "Let's get on the road and make sure they don't get away again." She suggested. Jo didn't need persuading, grabbing her own jacket and mobile and heading through the double doors. As the blonde followed, she turned to look at the DC at his desk. "Phone us the second you get a location."

"Guv."

Jo was waiting impatiently by the car when Sam left the building. The DI had cornered several members of Uniform on her way out and put them on alert that they would be needed sometime soon. Throwing her girlfriend the keys, Sam got into the passenger seat and fastened the belt as Jo pulled the car onto the road.

As her mobile began to ring, Sam snatched it up and held it to her ear. "DI Nixon."

"Guv, there's been a report of gunshots on the Arrow Trading Estate in Audenshaw. It's on Corporation Road, opposite the Reservoir. Uniform are attending, but I thought seeing as you and Jo were already out and about…"

"You know why we're out and about, Kevin." Sam reminded her DC snappily. She sighed. "Fine, we'll head in that direction now. But the second you get a location on Natalie's phone you let us know, understand?"

Glancing sideways, Jo raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"

"Reported gunshots on the Arrow Trading Estate in Audenshaw."

Jo nodded and skilfully turned the car round. "I know it. Any news on the girls?"

"Not yet, but they'll let us know when there is." Sam assured her with a smile, squeezing her knee.

They were almost at the trading estate when Sam's mobile rang again. Once more, she snatched it up, answering the call before it had rung twice.

"Yes?"

"Sam… you're heading to the estate, right?" DC Ellis asked. Something in his voice put Sam instantly on edge.

"Yeah, I said we would. Why? What's happened?"

"You might want to put your foot down. The trace on the mobile used to call Nikki Boston is placing the girls on the trading estate and the members of Uniform already on site are reporting continued gunfire. SCO19 are on their way."

"Shit!" The blonde DI hung up at once, turning to her girlfriend seriously. "Jo… they've traced the signal from Hollie's call to the Arrow Trading Estate. Uniform are on the scene, but they're waiting for SCO19 to arrive."

Jo didn't make any sign that she had heard what Sam said, apart from the rapid increase in speed of the car. She threw the vehicle round corner after corner, before a sea of police cars and vans seemed to appear from nowhere round a bend and she was forced to break quickly.

Throwing open the door before she'd even come to a halt, Jo parked and leapt out of the car, heading straight for Inspector Harris who was organising his crowd of Uniformed Officers. Sam was hot on her heels, almost jogging to keep up with the taller woman.

"Roger?" Jo almost snapped, reaching the Inspector. "What's happening?"

"You two need vests before you go anywhere near that building for a start." He commanded, motioning for one of his officers to provide the necessary protection. Harris waited until the women were replacing their coats over the recently fastened stab vests before speaking. "We think there are at least eight people inside the building and therefore at least eight firearms."

"A trace on the mobile used by one of the missing teenagers we've been searching for showed that they're in the building too." Sam informed him, keeping a tight grip on Jo's arm just in case she decided to do something stupid. "Any sign of them?"

"Not as yet, although at the moment any attempt to go in would be suicide."

Another round of gunshots sounded at that moment and everyone's attention focused on the building once more. Jo went cold at the knowledge that Hollie could be inside. Beside her, Sam slipped her hand into the brunette's, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Watch out!" A young PC shouted as something dropped from above, hitting the concrete floor with a loud slap and bouncing slightly.

"That's Hollie's shoe…" Jo murmured, staring at the object with wide eyes.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked her in a low voice, not wanting Jo to get her hopes up.

The brunette nodded, pointing at the left trainer which was being bagged up by the closest PC. "Remember what Nikki said she was wearing when she went missing; black converses." Her gaze moved upwards quickly and she let out a small shout, spotting a figure leaning out of a window about five floors up. Without warning, the face vanished inside. "That was Hollie… I know it was. She was giving us another message. She was letting us know they're there."

"Jo, even if that was your niece," Inspector Harris said firmly and Jo didn't bother to correct him on her relationship with the teenager, "we can't get into the building until SCO19 have cleared the threat of firearms."

Nodding distractedly, barely having heard a word he said, the brunette moved away and pulled out her mobile. She wasn't sure whether she was about to do the right thing, but she knew that Nikki would want to know what was happening. Hitting her number in the speed dial menu, she waited two rings until her cousin picked up the phone.

"Nikki, we've found them." She informed her at once. "I've just seen Hollie, so we know she's definitely alive."

"How…?" Nikki didn't seem to be able to form a coherent sentence, but Jo knew what she was trying to ask.

"We traced the signal from the mobile to a warehouse next to the Audenshaw Reservoir. Uniformed Officers were already here, responding to reports of gunfire and we're waiting for the Specialist Firearms Team to come and secure the area before we can... Nik? Nikki?!" Jo was suddenly aware of the silence on the other end of the phone. "Nikki are you there?"

"Joanne, love?" Another familiar voice said down the phone. "It's Mum. What's happened?"

"We've found them. What's happened to Nikki?"

"She dropped the phone, grabbed the car keys and left." Alice explained warily.

Jo's heart dropped as she realised that Nikki would be able to work out where they were from what she'd said and was obviously on her way over. "Damn it! And she's left her mobile." She took a deep breath. "Alright, don't worry, we'll sort this out."

"Be careful, Joanne." Her mother said, the words sounding more like a request than an order.

Hanging up, Jo strode back towards Sam and the Inspector who were watching her carefully. Spotting the slightly uncomfortable expression on her girlfriend's face, the blonde DI sighed, realising that Jo must have done something stupid.

"What?" She demanded.

"Nikki's on her way over. I told her that we were at a warehouse by the Reservoir and I forgot that she has enough local knowledge to be able to work out exactly where we were from that."

Letting out a deep breath and closing her eyes, Sam nodded. She couldn't blame Jo for letting her cousin know what was happening and neither could she blame Nikki for wanting to be there. If it had been her in either situation she would have done exactly the same. Sending a couple of Uniformed Officers to go and wait for Nikki so that they could keep her out of harm's way, Sam gave strict orders that she was to be informed the second the woman appeared. Then she walked a little way off and pulled out her mobile, intending to hurry up the gun squad.

"Jo!" The Inspector shouted suddenly, causing the DI to whirl around to see what the brunette had done.

For a moment Sam couldn't see Jo. Then, following Harris' gaze, she realised that the Detective Sergeant was on the other side of the courtyard area, wrenching open a heavy metal door. Before she could even take a step towards her, Jo had disappeared inside and out of sight. Growling in annoyance, Sam started barking orders at the PCs around her to cover the extent of her concern, before she hit speed dial on her phone, hoping that Jo had had the sense to put her mobile on silent.

Jo crept cautiously through the sudden darkness inside the warehouse. It was freezing cold and the air was damp. A strong musty smell hit her forcefully and she almost gagged. Feeling her way along the wall, the detective peered around a doorway, before moving through into a larger room on the other side. Opposite was a flight of metal stairs, which she immediately headed for.

As she reached the top, cursing the soft clicking of her heels on the metal beneath her feet, Jo jumped as her mobile started buzzing in her pocket. Thankful that she'd thought to turn the sound off, she pulled it out and clamped it between her ear and her shoulder, feeling her way towards the next set of stairs.

"Yeah?" She hissed, her eyes darting around anxiously. From somewhere a little way off she heard a fresh round of gunfire. Jumping slightly, she sped up. "What?"

"What the hell are you thinking?" Sam raged, her voice deafening in the silence. "As your DI I'm telling you to get your arse out here right now."

"And as my partner?" Jo asked, smirking slightly as her eyes scanned the corridor.

There was a pause and then a deep sigh. "Be careful, sweetheart. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I'm not going anywhere." The brunette promised softly. She smiled, her tone turning jokey. "Now get off the phone and do something useful."

Pushing the mobile back into her pocket, Jo hastily mounted the second flight of stairs onto the second floor. By her calculations she had another three flights to climb before she was on the correct level.


	54. Chapter 54

Hollie was getting more and more panicked as time passed. The sound of gunshots didn't seem to be slowing down, let alone stopping. The angry shouts that accompanied the noise appeared to be getting louder, making the teenager think that the figures behind the sounds were getting closer. She pulled Natalie up into a seated position, wrapping her arms around her and trying to share body heat. The older girl was hovering on the edge of consciousness and the cold, damp atmosphere in the building couldn't have been doing much to help.

Wondering what was happening outside the girl was tempted to return to the window for another look. She assumed that the police wouldn't be able to enter the building and come looking for them until the fighting had stopped, in case there were any casualties. Hollie couldn't blame them not wanting to put themselves in danger, but she wished that they would hurry up all the same.

She was so cold and tired that all Hollie really wanted to do was sleep. But, in the same way that she was trying to keep Natalie awake, the teenager knew that losing consciousness wasn't an option. Struggling to her feet, the seventeen-year-old hobbled backwards and forwards across the floor, rubbing her arms to try and keep them vaguely warm. After she had taken off her jumper and pulled it over Natalie's head to give her the extra warmth, the only thing protecting Hollie from the chill was her thin school shirt, which was ripped in several places.

Checking that the door was firmly barricaded, Hollie crouched beside her sister for a moment. She lifted her jumper and Natalie's top to assess the stab wound on her side. Wincing, she pulled them down again and moved the older girl's hand to press against it. Frustrated as her hand dropped limply to her side, the teenager glanced at Natalie's pale face and chewed her thumbnail anxiously.

"Come on, Nat… you have to stay awake." She ordered. "I need you to stay awake. Please!"

When there was no response, Hollie made her way slowly back towards the window. Her ankle was even more painful now, the cold causing it to seize up. She bit down hard on her lip, transferring the focus of her agony away from her foot. As the girl reached the window, she dragged herself back onto the ledge so she could look out again. Below her, the police were still milling about obviously not willing to enter the building while there was still a chance of anyone getting shot. The gunfire had stopped, but the shouting was still going on.

One of the figures seemed to be looking up, their attention fixed on a point somewhere to her left. Examining the figure closely, the teenager saw that it was a blonde woman. Leaning out as far as she could, Hollie tried to see what she was looking at. The woman below obviously noticed, because a sharp shout reached her ears and she pointed in her direction, before returning her attention to the spot she'd been staring at before. Wriggling slightly, Hollie ignored the sharp fragment of wood sticking into her stomach and leaned out a little further.

Glancing down, the girl's stomach seemed to shoot into her mouth and at exactly the moment she thought she was about to overbalance and fall, Hollie spotted a dark-haired woman leaning out of a window a little way to the left. Her heart soared with relief as the teenager instantly recognised the brunette staring at her and she felt tears burning in her eyes. Letting out a half-gasp, half-cry of fear and pain as she suddenly lost her balance, the teenager heard a loud, collective gasp from the crowd below and a shout of fear from the woman beside her.

"Hollie!" The woman called as loudly as she dared. "Hols! Hold on tight. Carefully climb back inside, sweetheart. Take it nice and slow, alright? Don't worry; I'm coming!"

"Hurry up, Auntie Jo, please!" The teenager begged. "I don't know how much longer Nat can hold on. She's lost too much blood and she's freezing."

"I'm coming." Jo assured her. "I promise you; I'm coming."

As the woman disappeared from sight, Hollie carefully shuffled backwards. She gasped loudly as the jagged wooden fragment on the ledge stabbed into her stomach. At the awkward angle, the teenager couldn't quite raise herself enough to stop it digging in. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Hollie pushed herself backwards and dropped to the floor. The sharp wood ripped through her skin and the pain pulsed through her as she hit the ground and her ankle crumpled beneath her. She wasn't sure whether her stomach or her ankle hurt more. For a moment darkness threatened to close in on her as she gasped for breath. As the light levels returned to normal the pain seemed to double and she felt as though she was about to be sick.

Hollie tried to climb to her feet to head back to Natalie and the door, which she had just remembered would need to be unblocked for Jo to get through to them, but even putting the tiniest amount of weight on her left ankle made her retch as the pain coursed through her. Instead, she resorted to crawling along the ground, dragging her foot behind her. Putting a hand on her stomach where the wood at caught her, she felt hot, sticky blood and suddenly her head started to spin again. Gritting her teeth and breathing as deeply as she could, Hollie continued across the floor.

Pausing briefly to check on Natalie, who seemed to be unconscious, she dragged herself over to the door and began pulling the metal bars out of the way. When they'd been moved, she tried to push the metal cabinet aside. From her position on the ground it was almost impossible. Angry tears forming in her eyes as she struggled, Hollie heard a tap on the other side of the door and froze.

"Hollie?"

"Auntie Jo? Is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm here, sweetheart." There was a slight shudder from the door as the woman obviously pushed on the metal. "Hols, have you locked the door? Can you let me in?"

The teenager let out a small sob of panic. "I'm sorry… I can't… I can't do it."

"You can't do what? You can't unlock the door? Is there a key?"

"I pushed a cabinet against the door…" Hollie explained in a low, thick voice, trying to stop herself crying. "But I can't move it now…"

There was a long pause and then Jo spoke again. "Stand back, I'll see if I can shove it from this side."

Shuffling away from the door quickly, Hollie leant heavily against the wall as she heard the door groaning as Jo pushed against it, causing it to move slightly. Glancing down at her stomach in the near darkness, the teenager removed her hand and stared at it in disgust. Even in the dim light she could see the blood smeared on her skin and gulped. Her injuries were nothing to those Natalie had, but they were enough to scare her. Pressing her hand tightly back against the wound, she closed her eyes and gave in to the heavy cloud of sleep that seemed to be engulfing her now that she knew Jo was outside and they would be alright.

* * *

_**A/N: So I heard the Waterloo Road trailer on the radio yesterday and Nikki was in it and I got so excited that I almost drove through a red light and there was a police car behind me. I so cannot wait until Thursday and she's back!**_


	55. Chapter 55

Reaching the fifth floor, Jo looked around, wondering where to go from here. Countless doors led off from the corridor she was standing in and she quickly worked out which way to head to overlook the space outside where she'd been standing when she'd seen Hollie looking out of the window. Trying to work out which door lead to that window, her eyes fell on a metal grating a little way along the corridor and she made her way towards it quickly. Jo reached out and touched the ropes still attached to the grating, looking around quickly. Four loops indicated that the two girls must have been tied here at some point with their arms above their heads. Running her hand down the metal, she jumped as she felt something wet on her fingertips. Glancing at it, Jo realised with a jolt that her hand was covered in blood.

Relieved that they had managed to get free, but anxious at the sight of blood, Jo chose a door at random and slipped through it, looking cautiously around. Seeing that there was no one inside, she made her way towards the window in the far wall. Dragging a crate towards it, Jo climbed up and wrestled the sash window open, pushing it up as far as it would go and leaning through.

Hitting re-dial, she held her mobile to her ear and watched as the blonde figure of her girlfriend in the yard below answered. "Sam, look up." She ordered, waiting for the DI to spot her. "How far am I from the window Hollie was in?"

"Two windows to your right."

"Thanks… Any luck with SCO19?"

"Not yet, but you've probably noticed the shooting seems to have stopped." Sam told her. "Found anything?"

"They were obviously tied up and I found traces of blood. I'm guessing they got themselves free and went to hide." Jo explained, still leaning out of the window. Frowning, she watched as the blonde's attention shifted and she pointed at something slightly to her right. "What is it?"

"Hollie… she's back in the window."

"What?" Jo breathed, shuffling further forward so that she could see past the wall.

Her eyes widened as they settled on the dirty, bloodied face of the seventeen-year-old she'd been searching for for three long weeks. Beneath the dirt and blood, Hollie's face was pale and drawn and she looked far from healthy. The teenager's eyes widened and she let out a panicked shriek, almost overbalancing. Jo thought her heart was going to burst through her chest and she let out her own shout of fear.

"Hollie!" Jo called as loudly as she dared, fighting her temptation to reach out. There was no point; she was too far away. "Hols! Hold on tight. Carefully climb back inside, sweetheart. Take it nice and slow, alright? Don't worry; I'm coming!"

"Hurry up, Auntie Jo, please! I don't know how much longer Nat can hold on. She's lost too much blood and she's freezing." Hollie replied pleadingly.

Jo breathed deeply, hearing the pain in the teenager's voice. "I'm coming. I promise you; I'm coming." Wriggling backwards, she climbed off the crate and started moving towards the door. "Sam? Call an ambulance; I think Natalie might be seriously hurt."

"And Hollie?"

"As far as I can tell not seriously hurt. She's alright. Well, as alright as she can be under the circumstances. Obviously she'll need to be checked out as well." She pointed out, glancing along the corridor. Lowering her voice, she leant over the railings and looked down at the floors below for any sign of movement. "How many windows did you say?"

"Two."

"Right… keep your line open." Jo requested, walking towards the door she guessed the teenagers were behind.

"Hang on…" There was a pause and the sound of a muffled conversation and Jo waited impatiently until Sam spoke to her again. "Nikki's arrived. PCs Jackson and Oliver are with her now. I'm gonna go and sit with her."

Jo nodded although her girlfriend couldn't see the gesture. "Stay with her. When I get to the girls I'll phone you back so Nikki can speak to Hols. Any news on SC019 yet?"

"On their way." The DI assured her. "The Guv's not best pleased with you… I can't say I'm particularly happy either; putting yourself in danger like this. You could have jeopardised the entire thing."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette tried pushing on the metal door in front of her. It didn't move and she guessed that she'd found the right room. "Look, we're not out of here yet. You and the DCI can both read me the riot act when we are, OK? Just give me five minutes and I'll call you back."

She hung up and pushed the mobile into her coat pocket, trying the door again. When it didn't move, she moved as close as she could and put her ear against it, listening for any movement. A scuffling sound and then a metallic bang made her jump.

"Hollie?" She called softly.

Relief flooded through her as she heard the reply. "Auntie Jo? Is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm here, sweetheart." Using more force this time, Jo pushed the metal door firmly. It shuddered slightly, but still refused to open. "Hols, have you locked the door? Can you let me in?"

To the brunette's distress there was a muffled sob from the other side. "I'm sorry… I can't… I can't do it."

"You can't do what?" She demanded as gently as she could, trying not to let her panic show. Shooting a glance over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't about to receive any surprise company, Jo tried shoving the door again. "You can't unlock the door? Is there a key?"

"I pushed a cabinet against the door… But I can't move it now…"

Examining the door carefully, Jo tested it by pushing against it using more force each time. Leaning all her wait against it, the detective felt the metal judder slightly and there was a low squeak as metal scraped on metal. Bracing herself against it and leaning on her shoulder, Jo prepared to use all the force she possessed.

"Stand back, I'll see if I can shove it from this side." She said determinedly.

Beginning to push against the door, Jo was a little alarmed at the loud screech that was emitted as something behind it gave. Desperately, sure that someone would have heard the sound and come to investigate, she increased the force she was using until the gap was just big enough for her to squeeze through. Wrenching her jacket free from where it had caught, Jo pushed the door closed and glanced around. Replacing the metal cabinet behind the door to ensure she wouldn't be followed inside, her gaze swept around the room.

"Hollie?" She muttered, seeing the slumped figure on the ground beside the door. "Hollie!"

Dropping to her knees, she pushed the teenager's hair away from her face and quickly felt for her pulse. It was thin and weak, but it was definitely there. Jo's eyes lingered for a moment on the long, deceptively deep cut on Hollie's face which ran from just above her right eye to her jaw. Then she pulled off her coat and wrapped it around the girl tightly, not surprised that she was freezing considering how little she had on. Spotting the blood on her shirt, Jo swore and examined Hollie's stomach carefully before removing her scarf and pressing it to the wound.

With a wince and a weak cry, Hollie blinked several times. It took a moment or two for her gaze to focus on the woman kneeling beside her. "Aun… Auntie Jo?"

"Shhh…" Jo murmured, pulling the teenager into her arms and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I've got you, sweetheart. You're gonna be alright. What happened to your stomach?"

"When I was at the window… bit of wood got me…"

"It's not too deep. It's deep enough so you'll have a gorgeous scar, but you should be fine, a tough cookie like you. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"My ankle."

Moving to check the damage, Jo winced. Hollie's ankle was definitely broken and broken badly, as far as she could tell. "We'll get that strapped up as soon as possible and you'll be running about in no time."

"I don't… Nat… she's… she was stabbed…" Hollie choked out, gripping the detective's arm tightly and widening her eyes.

Extracting herself gently, Jo moved across the room to where Natalie was lying against the wall. Checking her pulse, she realised with concern that it was almost non-existent and carefully lifted the girl as best she could, moving her closer to Hollie so that she could keep an eye on both of them more easily.

"Where's her wound?" She asked, glancing at Hollie who, thankfully, had more colour in her cheeks now she was slightly warmer.

"Right side…"

"What happened?" Jo asked as she began examining the teenager carefully.

"Natalie distracted the men while I grabbed one of their mobiles so we could let you know where we were. One started waving a knife around… I don't think he meant to stab her, but one of the other men bumped into him and he fell forwards and caught her on the side." Hollie explained as best she could.

Nodding, Jo gently removed her coat from around Hollie's shoulders and wrapped it around Natalie instead. The older girl needed it more, especially as her sister seemed to have perked up a bit. Raising her arm, the brunette invited the teenager to snuggle up to her.

* * *

_**A/N: Last update of 2012!**_

_**Thank you so much for all your support this year, guys! Happy New Year and see you on the other side! :)**_

_**x**_


	56. Chapter 56

It was a while before Jo remembered her promise to phone Sam. Reaching over Natalie, she pulled her mobile out of her pocket and selected a number. Holding it out to Hollie she smiled. "Tell Sam you're alright."

"Why don't you want to do it?"

"I might be in a teeny bit of trouble for sneaking in here without permission or telling anyone." Jo admitted, pulling a face. Hollie couldn't help smiling and laughing softly.

"Hello? Jo? What's going on? Are you there?" A tinny voice came through the mobile which neither of the women realised had been answered. "Jo!"

"Answer it then!" Jo smirked, nudging the teenager with her shoulder. "Before she blows a gasket."

Hollie blinked at her for a moment. "Hello? Is that Sam?"

"This is Sam Nixon… Where's Jo? Hang on… Hollie?" The woman asked, pieces of a puzzle clicking together in her brain as she registered the voice on the other end.

There was a scuffling sound and then a new voice spoke urgently. "Hols? Hollie is that you? Are you alright?"

"Mum!" The teenager said, bursting into tears.

Shushing her gently, Jo took the mobile out of her hand and rubbed her back soothingly as she spoke. "Nikki? It's Jo."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, she's got a few injuries, but they're mainly superficial, I think." The woman reassured her cousin, making the situation sound more positive than it actually was. "It's Natalie I'm more concerned about. She's got a stab wound to her right side; not particularly deep, but bad enough. She's unconscious and her pulse is weak. We need to get her out of here now."

All of a sudden, there were several loud bangs outside the room and Hollie clutched at Jo, almost trying to climb onto her lap in an attempt to get away from the door. The woman lowered the mobile, focusing on trying to calm Hollie down, sweeping the hair out of her eyes and looking at her seriously.

"It's alright. They can't get you." She told her in a low voice, before using one arm to clamp the teenager tightly to her and raising the mobile once more. "Nik, put Sam on, please."

"What's going on?"

"Calm down and pass the phone to Sam." Jo ordered more firmly. "Sam… yeah, they've found us. I don't think they know I'm in here, but they're outside."

"How many are there?"

"I have no idea!" The brunette told her incredulously. "But if they get through that door we are in big trouble. Natalie's unconscious and Hollie's got a broken ankle."

"Jesus…" Sam muttered. "Listen, sit tight and we'll get in there as soon as we can."

As the call ended, Jo tried to extricate herself from the teenager's arms, but felt Hollie's grip tightening in fear. Calming her down, the detective managed to wriggle free and stood up, moving closer to the door. The banging outside had moved further away while she'd been speaking to Sam but, seemingly the moment she reached the door and pressed her ear against it there was a bang right outside.

Turning quickly to face Hollie, she pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head, replacing her ear on the freezing metal and straining to hear the muffled conversation taking place in the corridor.

"How far could they have got? The younger one's ankle was pretty messed up; Jase had to carry her out of the van."

"Bet she didn't like that." A second man replied, chuckling. "There's blood there, look…."

"It's probably from when the stupid cow ran into Steve's blade." There was a pause and a clanging sound. "Jonny, where d'you reckon the girls are? Dean's gonna do his nut if they've got away."

"Charlie… you were supposed to be keeping an eye on them." Jonny replied. "If they've gone and escaped then it's your fault."

"Auntie Jo?" Hollie hissed, terrified, from where the detective had left her. As the voices outside had gone, Jo crossed back to the teenagers and took her place between them once more. "Who are those men? Nat said some of them are related to my Uncle or something. Why would they do this?"

With a sigh, Jo wondered what to say. Realising that Hollie was smart enough to deal with what she might say and knowing that talking it though would help things fall into place, the detective gathered her thoughts.

"Well?"

"You are just as impatient as your Mum, d'you know that?" Jo smirked, shaking her head. "Alright… we think that your kidnap was the culmination of a serious and violent family feud between the Evans family and the Wilks family."

"The Evans family are my dad's family, right?"

Jo nodded. "Right. About a month ago someone set fire to Dean Wilks' flat while his wife and three young children were inside. No one was hurt, but the Wilks family were understandably angry. Several witnesses confirmed that two men were driving a van, which stopped outside Dean's flat just before the fire. Those men were identified as Andy Evans and Eddie Baldwin. Andy Evans is–"

"My father." Hollie finished the sentence with a nod.

"Yes and Eddie Baldwin is his best friend, as well as being married to Andy's cousin." The woman told her slowly. Before speaking again, Jo checked Natalie's pulse and pulled her coat more tightly around the teenager. "The theory we're running with is that as revenge for the arson on Dean Wilks' flat, you and Natalie were kidnapped. We don't know whether they were asking a ransom or just trying to scare your family into backing down over this turf war or what."

"They are not my family." The teenager told her firmly. "You're my family and Mum. And Tom and Josh now, I guess."

"And Natalie?" Jo asked, nodding her head towards the unconscious teenager she had pulled up to lean on her shoulder.

Hollie hesitated. "Yeah, alright, and Natalie."

"When we get out of here I'm gonna be counting on you to be strong enough to help us end all this." Jo said softly after a couple of moments. "Do you know what the men who were holding you were called? Would you be able to identify them?"

"I think so…" The teenager agreed slowly, screwing up her face and thinking. "Adrian, Jonny, Charlie and Steve… they were the ones in the car when I was kidnapped. They already had Nat when they grabbed me. Then another guy met us in the fifth or sixth place they took us; Jason."

"Jason Lewis." Jo nodded. "Dean Wilks' cousin." She frowned slightly. "What about Dean himself?"

Shaking her head the teenager shrugged. "No… there was only those five. They kept changing around and there were usually only two of them with us in each place… sometimes three."

"How many places did they take you? Did they move you in the same car they used to kidnap you?"

"No… it was a white van. I'm not sure… lots. Apart from here, they were all in woods. They moved us around a lot after that phone call I made from the first house. I think they thought we were either too stupid or too scared to think of doing anything like that to attract your attention. Adrian was so angry with me for that…"

Jo turned to face her, her eyes raking over the teenager's face in concern. "What did he do to you?"

"I obviously wasn't as smart as I thought, because I forgot to put my phone on silent. He heard it beep and went mad, searching me until he found it. Then he threw it on the floor and stamped on it. I thought he was gonna kill me, but the Jonny guy jumped in after he'd hit me a couple of times and pulled him back."

"I'm gonna have him." Jo fumed, scowling furiously at the door. Feeling Hollie tensing beside her, she signed and turned to press a kiss to her head gently. "I'm sorry."

"For what? It's not your fault."

"No, but I'm sorry for asking all these questions when you're gonna be asked them again soon." She gave her a mock stern look. "I've got a lot of questions for you, Miss Evans. Starting with why you decided hanging out on the Jasmine Allen Estate was a good idea."

Hollie blushed and buried her head in the woman's shoulder. Jo noticed the momentary flash of fear in the girl's eyes and was about to say something, when there was an almighty crash, the scream of metal on metal and the door flew open.

At once Jo leapt to her feet, putting herself between the door and the teenagers. Hollie screamed as two men grabbed hold of the woman, a gun aimed at her head. As though it was some kind of sick game, Jo's mobile started ringing at that exact moment. With a gun pointed at her head all the detective could do was stand and let them search her, finding her phone quickly.

"Sam?" The man Hollie knew was Jonny asked, raising the mobile and showing it to Jo. "I don't think we need to speak to anyone, do we? Or is this an important call?"

"Look, Jonny, stop this now." Jo ordered, not mentioning the call that the man had ended. "We know Dean is the brains behind all this and you're just doing what you're told. Let us go and we'll take that into account."

"Shut up! Actually, how did you get in here?" He glanced at Jo's warrant card which he'd discovered when he was searching her. Before speaking, he ended the incoming call that had just caused Jo's mobile to ring again. "DS Masters, eh?"

Trying to calm them down and talk some sense into the two men, she motioned over her shoulder. Lowering her voice so that Hollie wouldn't hear her words, she shot them a serious glance. "Look, if you don't want this to turn into a murder case… or even a double murder case… then you really need to let these girls go to hospital. They've both lost a lot of blood and they're freezing."

Sensing that they were getting nervous at her words, Jo decided to press her advantage. She was cut off, however, as her phone rang for the third time. This time, Jonny didn't hang up.

"Sam can't take a hint, eh?" He grinned, before holding the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

* * *

_**A/N: Happy 2013! Hope it's fabulous!**_


	57. Chapter 57

"Sam… how long is this going to take?" Nikki demanded impatiently, standing up from where she was sitting on the bonnet of one of the police cars. "Hollie and Jo are in there and there are guns. How long are they going to mess around and leave them in danger?"

The blonde DI sighed. "Nikki, I'm just as worried as you are, I promise you. But until the threat of the firearms is neutralised there is no way we can sanction sending anyone in."

"I'll go in."

"Don't be stupid." Sam snapped, more harshly than she'd intended. "Jo's not reckless... most of the time. She'll handle this until we get in there."

"Why haven't we heard from them for so long?" Nikki asked, changing tack.

Hesitating for a moment, Sam pulled out her mobile and called Jo's number. It rang several times, before the answerphone kicked in. Frowning slightly, Sam looked at the phone, wondering whether there was no signal or something.

"What?" The brunette beside her demanded.

"It's probably nothing." Sam shrugged, trying again.

"Why isn't she answering?" Nikki snapped, starting to pace again as Sam stared at the phone in concern.

"Just… Guv?" The blonde called, beckoning the DCI over. "I think we've got a problem."

"Jo?"

"She's not answering her mobile. When I spoke to her before, she sounded panicked and she said that if they were found they'd be in trouble."

The man ran a hand through his hair, before rubbing his chin. "Right, keep trying her. I'll hurry up the troops and we'll get in there as soon as we can."

Nodding, Sam tried calling Jo for the third time. She was surprised when it was answered. Her surprise turned to fear as a male voice reached her ears. Waving the DCI back over, she put the call on speakerphone.

"Hello?"

"Who is this?" Sam demanded. "Where's DS Masters?"

"Oh… she's right here. We're having a lovely time."

In the background, Jo's voice was unmistakable. "Oh, stop being a prat, Jonny."

Despite the severity of the situation, Sam found herself smiling weakly at the clear exasperation in Jo's tone. "Jonny Henderson?" She mouthed at the DCI, before turning back to the phone. "What about the girls?"

"They're here too."

"I want to speak to them; all three of them. I need to hear they're alright."

There was a long pause, before Sam heard her girlfriend's voice. "Sam, don't worry about me. We're OK at the moment, aren't we Hols?"

"Fine." The teenager agreed in the background, although from her tone she was obviously feeling far from fine.

"And Natalie?"

"Unconscious, Guv. We're going to need an ambulance."

"We'll send her out." The man said, obviously taking the phone back. "I don't wanna be done for murder."

"How are you planning on getting her out; through the window?" Jo asked sarcastically.

Sam rolled her eyes, marvelling at the woman's ability to wind people up in the worst situations. There was a dull thud and a muffled cry from the other end of the phone. Outside, the two women and the DCI stared at each other in horror.

"What was that?" Sam demanded.

"My hand slipped." Jonny told her with a soft chuckle.

"You alright, Jo?"

When the woman answered, her voice sounded strained. "Marvellous."

"I'm warning you if you harm her, or either of the girls, in any way you will be in serious trouble." Sam threatened angrily. "I will personally make sure you pay for what you've done."

As the line went dead, Sam glanced at the DCI and realised that he was gripping hold of Nikki's arms tightly. The brunette looked as though she was attempting to follow the route her cousin had taken and head into the building. Nodding to her superior, Sam took over keeping a grip on the taller woman's arms. She held Nikki in a tight hug and pulled her away from the building.

"Nikki… the Guv's about to send the unit in; we're not waiting around anymore. There haven't been any gunshots for a while so we've got to believe that they've run out of ammo. They'll be out of there as soon as possible."

"That's my family in there, Sam." Nikki reminded her, her eyes flashing angrily.

"And you'll get them back soon."

x-x

Nikki was numb. She sat in the passenger seat of Sam's car, the blonde DI having locked her in before following her colleagues into the building. Nikki hadn't had the energy to complain as she had been put safely out of harm's way and forced to watch the police officers streaming into the warehouse. Her interest was only captured when they started emerging again. It seemed like hours had passed while she'd been staring at the building and thinking the worst.

She stared at the men who were escorted or dragged into the waiting police vans blankly until she spotted a face that she recognised. Furiously, she started banging at the doors and trying to get out. Without warning, the doors unlocked and she flew outside, sprinting across the ground and throwing herself angrily at a dark-haired man. Nikki reined blows on him until she was pulled backwards and Sam appeared, holding onto her tightly.

"Nikki!" The man breathed, looking as though he'd seen a ghost.

"How could you!" She screamed. "Your daughters!"

"It wasn't him." Sam told her gently as Andy was bundled into a police van. "Andy and his brothers' gang found out where Hollie and Natalie were and came to try and rescue them."

"Why are you arresting him, then?"

"He was in possession of a firearm." Glancing over her shoulder, Sam took a breath and led Nikki towards her car, pushing her down to sit on the bonnet. "Listen… there's something else."

Nikki sighed. "I don't think I can cope with any more bad news this year."

"I really wish I didn't have to tell you this..." Sam started quietly. "But it's better that I tell you now."

"Just spit it out, Sam."

"When the police officers entered the room where the two men were holding Jo and the girls, they were taken by surprise. Jonny Henderson was still aiming his gun at Jo and we're guessing that Hollie realised what he was about to do just before he pulled the trigger."

Feeling as though her heart had just stopped beating, Nikki gasped, clutching at Sam desperately. "What are you saying, Sam? Is Jo…"

"Hollie pushed Jo out of the way of the bullet, Nikki. She saved Jo's life. But she put herself in the path of the bullet and she got shot."

Nikki went cold. "Is she dead?"

"No." The blonde said quickly, shaking her head and squeezing the taller woman's hands. "No, she's not dead. The bullet passed through her shoulder. Luckily Henderson was a terrible shot; if he hadn't been she would have been killed instantly. He and Mortan panicked when they realised what had happened and tried to run, obviously forgetting the armed officers standing behind them."

"What's happening? Where are they?"

"They're still in the building and paramedics are with them now."

"There…" Nikki murmured, struggling to stand up.

Sam turned to see what the woman was looking at and spotted several paramedics walking from the warehouse with a trolley. Beside them was the easily recognisable figure of Jo, resisting another paramedic's attempts to wrap her in a blanket as she kept hold of the figure being wheeled along. The two women headed quickly towards them and Nikki almost leapt on the trolley beside her daughter.

"Nikki!" Jo exclaimed, dragging her cousin into her arms and holding onto her. "Sweetheart you're gonna crush Hollie if you do that."

Wriggling free and smacking the older woman on the arm, Nikki scowled at her. "My daughter's just been shot and you're making jokes?"

"Hollie saved my life, Nikki, I don't class that as a joke." Jo replied seriously. "She's my bloody hero."

"I don't know what it is with your family." Sam said lightly, a small smirk appearing on her lips. "You're a load of bloody heroes, the lot of you. Nikki wrestling knife wielding drug dealers, Hollie leaping in front of bullets and Jo… I've lost track of the number of times you've put yourself in danger."

"You can talk, Samantha Nixon." Jo replied with a grin. She linked her fingers with Nikki's, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "Hollie's going to need an operation to repair the damage caused by the bullet, but she'll be fine. Apart from that, she's got a badly broken ankle and quite a deep laceration on her stomach caused by a jagged piece of wood, as well as cuts and bruises."

"But she'll be alright?"

Jo nodded. "She'll be alright."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you all for reading!**_

_**And thank you to Anastasia Dove, PondGirl11, LucyMaxine, Beano Baby, loveinfinity and brightlightsbrighterdreams for your reviews on the last few chapters! You guys are amazing! :D**_

_**x **_


	58. Chapter 58

Nikki waited impatiently outside the operating theatre where Hollie had been taken straight from the warehouse. Apparently she'd passed out straight after the bullet had hit her and hadn't regained consciousness since. The doctors had given her anaesthetic and rushed her into surgery, leaving the three women in their wake. Sam had insisted that Jo went with the nurses that were trying to assess her injuries, leaving her alone outside the theatre with Nikki waiting for news on Hollie.

"DI Nixon?" A young woman called, poking her head into the corridor. "Natalie Williams has regained consciousness."

Glancing quickly at Nikki, Sam winced apologetically, suddenly remembering that she was on duty. "I need to…"

"Course." The brunette nodded, not moving her gaze from the doors to the operating theatre. "I understand."

"Jo should be back soon." The DI promised, before following the nurse out of the corridor.

Time seemed to have stopped as the woman paced backwards and forwards in the corridor. Nikki didn't know how much time had passed since Hollie had disappeared through the double doors; it could have been minutes or hours for all she knew. In reality, when Jo returned from being checked over by a doctor, only twenty minutes had passed.

Pushing a cup of hospital coffee into her cousin's hands, the detective moved towards the doors, peering through the windows to see what was happening. Her view was blocked by the group of people gathered round the operating table, but she could tell that they were busy working on the teenager. Jo sighed, wondering how she had come to be standing out here while Hollie was having an operation. She thought about everything she'd learnt about her cousin's daughter while investigating her kidnap and tried to reconcile the information with the teenager who'd clung onto her in the warehouse and later pushed her out of the way of the bullet.

Jo had frozen with the gun aimed at her head. It wasn't the first time she'd been in that situation, but it was the first time she hadn't been able to say or do anything to turn the situation around. The only explanation the detective could think of was that she hadn't ever been in that situation with part of her family depending on her to save their life. When it came down to it, Hollie had ended up being the one who saved her life.

"What happened, Jo?" Nikki asked. The two women had finally settled on the hard plastic chairs lining the corridor and were staring at the wall opposite.

"I shouldn't have gone in. It was stupid, but I couldn't leave them in there alone. When the DCI and Sam weren't looking I slipped inside the warehouse. I found evidence that they'd been tied to some metal grating, so I went looking for them. Natalie was unconscious and Hollie had managed to barricade the door. I got into the room and we phoned you and Sam." Jo paused. "That's when Henderson and Mortan burst in. I was trying to protect them but… I just froze. I don't know what happened. The next thing I knew Hollie jumped at me and the gun went off. I'm so sorry, Nik."

The younger woman shook her head and squeezed Jo's hand tight. "It's not your fault. I know you would have done everything you could." She laughed cynically. "Ten years in the army and I never got shot. Hollie manages it in ten minutes."

"Have you spoken to Tom?" Jo asked a while later, glancing sideways at Nikki. "He'd want to know what's going on. You promised you'd let Scout and Kevin know as well, not to mention your colleagues."

"I know I did, but I can't leave her in there on her own. I'll phone them when she's out of surgery and I know what to tell them."

Jo nodded, not pushing her cousin further. They waited in silence until the surgeon emerged from the operating theatre and shot them a broad smile. As one, the women felt the breaths that they had not known they were holding being released. The man went on to explain that Hollie had been lucky that the bullet had not hit any arteries and, whilst they had removed it and managed to repair most of the damage, she could suffer significant nerve damage in her right shoulder and would need physiotherapy. When Hollie regained consciousness and was slightly stronger, the surgeon wanted to test the teenager for Axillary Nerve Dysfunction.

Once he'd headed away along the corridor, the two women looked at each other for a moment before Nikki broke into a broad smile and pulled her cousin into a tight hug. Both leapt to their feet as Hollie was wheeled through the double doors and along the corridor. They followed in the wake of the doctors and nurses as they took the unconscious teenager to a side room and settled her into the bed. Sam joined them at the window as they watched the machinery being attached to the girl by various tubes and wires and all three knew that they could be in for a long wait before she woke up. While they waited, Nikki went to phone Tom and fill him in on what was happening. He had wanted to drive down to Manchester straight away, but his girlfriend stalled him. Although she would have been grateful of his support, Nikki didn't think she'd be able to stay strong if she saw Tom.

It was the next morning when Hollie finally stirred. Nikki sat bolt upright at once, pushing her daughter's hair back from her face. Hollie winced as her mother's fingers lightly brushed the cut on her face. Before either could say anything, a nurse appeared in the room and startled bustling around and checking the readings on the monitors Hollie was hooked up to.

Outside in the corridor, Nikki spotted Jo and Sam sitting on the hard plastic seats talking in low voices. They glanced up as she approached them, the anxious expressions on their faces replaced with small, weak smiles.

"Any change?"

"She's just woken up." Nikki replied sighing deeply and dropping onto the seat beside her cousin. Sensing that the detective was about to jump to her feet, she grasped her arm. "The nurse is checking her over and then that surgeon's going to come down and do those tests. She said we might as well wait out here until they've finished."

"Did she give any indication of whether there's any problems?" Sam asked.

"No, she just…" The brunette English teacher frowned slightly, seeing a look passing between the two women beside her. "What's happened?"

"Natalie… she… she died." The blonde told her slowly. "The knife wound in her side was much deeper than they thought and she'd lost a lot of blood before they could stabilise her."

Nikki exhaled sharply, closing her eyes for a moment. Immense guilt rushed over her as she realised that she was relieved it was Natalie and not Hollie who had been fatally wounded. The thought of having to tell her daughter that the older girl was dead was something that the woman was not looking forward to; Hollie would be devastated.

None of them spoke as they waited to be allowed to go back into the room. The surgeon appeared, spoke to them for a couple of moments and then went through the door. He returned to the corridor half an hour later and told them that he thought, with regular physiotherapy, Hollie's right shoulder would soon regain all of its mobility. Thanking him profusely, the three women entered the private room and found that Hollie was asleep again.

x-x

"I had a little chat with your friend Zoe when we were looking for you." Jo told the teenager as casually as she could later that day. Instantly Hollie's eyes widened and she looked down, smoothing the bed sheets nervously. "She asked me to let her know when you were found." There was a long pause. "Gavin and Jayden seemed pretty concerned as well."

"Are you alright?" Nikki asked her daughter, noticing the colour draining from her face.

Hollie nodded weakly. "Yeah… can I have a tea, Mum?"

Sending a look at Jo, the woman left the room. As soon as she had gone, the teenager shuffled nervously in the bed.

"What?" Jo asked, arching an eyebrow.

"How much do you know?"

"Pretty much everything." The woman admitted with a shrug. She leant forward and reached for Hollie's hand that was lying limply beside her. "My colleague ran your name through CRIMINT just in case and–"

"You got my record up." Hollie finished with a sigh. For a moment she seemed to be battling over whether to be defensive or just tell Jo everything. "I'm really sorry."

Letting out a long sigh, the woman shuffled her chair closer and stroked the teenager's hair gently. "I'm not angry with you, I just don't understand why. I spoke to Smithy and Kirsty Knight and they both said you weren't like the others you hung around with. Why did you do it?"

"We needed the money. I was desperate and Gav helped me out."

Jo froze. She had been talking about the drugs and shoplifting charges on Hollie's record, as well as her general behaviour over that year. Apparently, though, the teenager was referring to something else and the brunette's heart seemed to stop. She clutched Hollie's hand more tightly.

"What d'you mean?"

"It wasn't Gav's fault… I went to him. I knew he wouldn't rip me off like some of the others. He was a mate, so I knew he'd look out for me." She mumbled.

"Are you saying you worked for Gavin Ashton? Was he your pimp?"

The teenager's eyes widened even further and she looked horrified. "I thought you said you knew?"

"I was talking about your record, Hollie!"

Covering her face with her hands, the girl burst into anguished sobs. Jo couldn't understand what she was saying and did her best to calm her down. Glancing over her shoulder and out through the window of the private room, she spotted Nikki making her way along the corridor. Hastily, she moved to the door and signalled for the nearest nurse to come over.

"Can you keep Nikki out of the way for a minute or two?" She asked hurriedly. "Hollie's just started talking and I don't think her Mum should hear this. I'll let you know when she can come back in."

Obviously wondering how she was going to keep the forceful brunette out of the way, the nurse moved towards Nikki and Jo ducked back into the room, drawing the blinds on the window as she did so. She settled herself on the bed beside Hollie, pulling her into her arms and shushing her softly. The teenager struggled for a moment or two, before giving up and clinging tightly to the woman.


	59. Chapter 59

When she had calmed down enough to speak, Jo pulled back and looked at Hollie seriously. "You have to tell me everything."

"What d'you want to know?" She asked with a sigh of resignation.

"How did you meet Ashton?"

"When we moved to Sun Hill it was halfway through year 8. Everyone had their own friends and I found it really hard to settle. My best mate, Emma–"

"Emma Dixon?" Jo clarified.

"Yeah… Emma died about a week after my fourteenth birthday and I was on my own. What with Nan and Granddad and Emma dying I didn't really have anyone. Then I got to know Zoe and we got really close. I knew she lived on the Jasmine Allen Estate and Nan was always going on about what kind of people lived there, so I didn't tell her about Zo. Slowly I got to know her mates and then I started going out with Mitchell."

"Why did you start shoplifting and taking drugs?"

Hollie looked at her hands. "The shoplifting was just a laugh at first. Zo and I were just taking small stuff from the supermarket. Then Mitch asked me to get other stuff. I think I wanted to get caught the first time I got nicked, so it would all stop. I knew there was CCTV and the shopkeeper would see me."

"And the drugs?"

"When I got reprimanded, I didn't even know that Mitch had the drugs until the police stopped us. He told me to keep quiet. I knew that he'd be in serious trouble if they realised it was his, so I told them it was mine." The teenager explained, going slightly red. "The second time… that was mine. I… I was getting so stressed with everything at home… things were really bad and the weed helped for a while."

"Do you know how stupid that was?" Jo hissed, not releasing her grip on Hollie's hand.

She nodded. "I know, I know. After that I tried to stop the drugs and stop getting into trouble. I broke up with Mitch because I blamed him for the last time I got stoned and broke my arm. I really was trying to stay away from the police."

"What did you mean things were really bad at home?"

"You know Granddad got diagnosed with cancer in November 2010? Well that's when I started spending more and more time on the Jasmine Allen. Nan and Granddad relied on me to do everything; Granddad was getting worse and Nan wasn't in a fit state to look after him. After a couple of months we had to get a nurse to come in everyday to look after him. But we couldn't afford it. Nan wouldn't even think about putting him in a hospice so I needed to get money and fast."

"So you went to Ashton?"

"This isn't on the record, is it?" Hollie asked nervously. When Jo shook her head, she relaxed slightly and continued. "Not at first. I asked Mitch if I could borrow some money and he said I could, but there was a catch; he wanted me to run drugs for him. I didn't want to do that… I couldn't be a part of something where so many people would get hurt."

"So you had nothing to do with drugs?" Jo asked. When Hollie didn't answer, she groaned. "What happened?"

"I only did a couple of jobs. The money I earned working for Gav was way better."

Jo stared at her hard. "What did you do?"

"Have you heard of the 222 Club?"

"Have I heard of it?" The detective repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I've investigated it more times than you can imagine."

"Mitch sent me there a couple of times to meet clients. I'd go in, meet a couple of people, hand over the drugs, take the money and get out. Then he'd pick me up and give me my cut."

"You are joking?" Jo demanded, looking furiously at the teenager. "Do you realise that you could go to prison for what you've just told me?"

"I had no choice."

"That's not an excuse!"

"I know… I didn't want to do it. So that's when I went to Gavin. I knew he was pimping Zoe and he'd joked that I would be able to earn a lot if I went on the game too. He was really good… made sure he vetted the punters and only gave me the decent ones. Gav made sure I got checked out at the health centre regularly and he helped me out when… stuff went wrong. I made it clear that it wasn't a permanent thing; I only did it when we were desperate. No one else knew only me and Gavin."

"Let me guess; as your Granddad got more ill, you got more desperate?"

She nodded. "Something like that. I worked enough to keep us out of trouble and make sure Granddad got all the care he needed." Hollie paused and looked at Jo for the first time since she'd started speaking. "Auntie Jo… I know you're a cop and I know that I've broken the law… but I'll never say any of this on the record."

"Why would you protect them? Mitchell Payne used to beat you up."

"No he didn't." Hollie answered too quickly to be genuine.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but you'd have been better off going out with Jayden Hallas."

"Jay was sweet, but he used to hang around me like a puppy." The teenager shrugged. "It… unnerved me… having someone being so nice and attentive all the time. I was more comfortable with Mitch; knowing that he could snap at any minute. It was what I was used to."

"What you were used to?"

"I knew what signs to look for. Sometimes Nan was alright and then other times she'd flip and be so horrible to me. She never hit me or nothing, but she didn't need to. With Jay I was constantly on edge waiting for him to change." Hollie shook her head. "He was always watching out for me and trying to keep me out of trouble. Sometimes when something had happened between me and Mitch I'd see a look in Jay's eyes. Mitch would pretend he was the hard man, but he was scared of Jay. I didn't really know why until after we'd broken up. I got into an argument with Mitch over Gavin and he laid into me. We got taken into the station because someone reported a disturbance. Next thing I heard, Jay had beaten him up; properly did him over." Pausing, the teenager clenched her hand into a fist. "After that I knew I had to find another way to get the money we needed. I never went back to the Estate."

Jo looked at her, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "I know you're lying, Hollie."

"What?"

"I spoke to Kirsty Knight. She told me that she saw you talking to Gavin Ashton on the Jasmine Allen Estate months after that; last summer. She said that you told her you were giving Gavin something you'd borrowed off Zoe. I think you were still working for Ashton and were giving him his cut of your earnings. So tell me the truth."

"Alright… I was. If Kirsty had asked me outright I probably would have told her. Granddad needed way more care towards the end, so we needed more money. GCSE study leave was convenient, as was finishing my exams in June. It's awful, but it was almost a relief when Granddad died."

"And you stopped… working… for Ashton then?"

"Yeah, I stopped when Granddad went into hospital in July."

"And you're off the drugs?"

"I haven't taken anything since I broke my arm."

"And you're definitely telling me the truth." Jo pressed urgently, her eyes raking insistently over the teenager's face. She took in the silent tears that were falling down her cheeks. "There's nothing else?"

"I promise."

"OK, sweetheart, I believe you." She murmured, pulling Hollie into a tight hug.

After a couple of minutes the teenager pulled away, looking terrified. While she'd been talking, she'd looked uncomfortable and embarrassed, but not scared. This realisation set Jo on edge and she clutched Hollie more tightly.

"Auntie Jo… there is… there's something else." She was shaking as she spoke, her eyes glistening with tears. "When I was fifteen… I got pregnant."

"What?" Jo breathed, her eyes widening. Scenarios flashed through her mind at record pace; how Hollie had got pregnant, what had happened, what might happen. Every time she thought there was nothing else she could find out about Hollie, the teenager surprised her with something else.

"It was an accident… I never meant to. Nan had always told me, from when I was a little kid, that if I got pregnant she'd kill me. She said that Mum getting pregnant had ruined all our lives and that me having a kid would be worse. I was terrified. I thought she must be right because Mum was never around. Gav helped me out."

"How?"

"He got me an appointment to have an abortion, no questions asked."

"Where was this? Was it a clinic?"

"Yeah… somewhere near the Larkmead Estate. Gavin said it was best we didn't stick around the Jasmine Allen because they would recognise me. The appointment was booked under the name Caroline Morgan. She's Gav's cousin so he could get hold of ID."

"Were you OK?"

Hollie nodded. "Yeah… couldn't work for a couple of days so we couldn't pay the gas bill on time, but I was fine."

Jo shook her head in disbelief. "How can you be so casual about all this? You're seventeen-years-old and you've dealt so much on your own since you were fourteen. You never told me or your Mum any of this and you wouldn't have done, would you, if you hadn't been abducted and I hadn't found out?"

"It was my mess to deal with. You must have seen worse, Auntie Jo; murders, kidnapping, assaults… you've been taken hostage and attacked loads of times. This is just my life; I deal with stuff when it happens. I've got through so far and… well… I'm hoping the future will be better." She hesitated. "Do we have to tell Mum?"

The woman sighed. "It's better you do. She'll probably find out about your record anyway."

"But the abortion? I don't want her to know. It's not on my medical records or anything and… well… she was brave enough to have me, wasn't she? She was the same age as me when she got pregnant and I got rid of my baby. I really don't want her to know."

"I can't force you to tell her. But Hols, the situations are completely different. Nikki would understand."

"Please… Auntie Jo? I just want to pretend it never happened."

Jo exhaled sharply and closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead in agitation. She really didn't know what to do for the best. Hollie was so complicated that the woman really didn't know what to think. After years of practice she was so good at covering things up and wrapping the truth in layers of lies, that the detective didn't know what was real and what wasn't. All she knew was that she had to trust that Hollie hadn't been lying to her.

"Alright. I won't say anything."

"But… please will you tell Mum about my record. She'll be so upset and I don't want to see her face when she finds out."

Seeing the genuine upset in the teenager's eyes, Jo reluctantly agreed, slipping out of the room to speak to her cousin. Hollie curled up in a ball, letting her tears silently soak into the pillow as emotions that she'd buried deep inside her were brought to the surface.


	60. Chapter 60

Hollie was asleep when Nikki and Jo re-entered the private room, this time with Sam as well. The three women watched her sleeping, unwilling to wake her. Hollie looked so peaceful as she slept; so innocent. Her face was pale against the pillows; her dark hair fanning out and contrasting with the paleness of her skin. Now, however, they all knew that innocent was one word that definitely couldn't be used to describe the teenager and somehow that knowledge was tainting their view of her.

After a while she stirred, sighing and stretching as she woke up slowly. As soon as her eyes fell on the three women she sat up and glanced towards Jo for reassurance. The brunette smiled weakly and nodded, seeing Hollie release the breath she'd been holding.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked gently, realising that Nikki had no idea what to say to her daughter.

"A bit sore, but I'm alright." The teenager told her with a smile, moving back against the pillows with a lot of effort. "I would say I've had worse, but I've never actually been shot before."

"What you told Jo… is it true?" Nikki asked suddenly, changing the topic abruptly and fixing her with an expression that was somewhere between hoping that it was some kind of sick joke and anger.

Hollie looked at her and nodded slowly. "I'm so, so sorry, Mum."

"Why did you do it all?"

"We needed the money." The teenager told her. "Nan and Granddad's pensions only just covered the rent and the bills and everything else we needed and then we had to find more to pay Granddad's carer. I didn't really have a choice. No one would give me a job because I was only fifteen."

"Didn't your grandparents have any idea what you were up to?" Nikki asked, tears falling unchecked down her cheeks.

Hollie snorted. "Granddad didn't know… or if he did he didn't admit it. Nan on the other hand knew exactly what was going on. She caught me with the cash one day and demanded to know where I'd got it. I tried telling her I had a job in a shop, but she didn't believe me, so I told her I was working for a mate; cash in hand, no questions asked. She took the money off me and warned me not to get into trouble. I think she thought I was on the rob or fencing. Then a couple of weeks later she caught me sneaking out to meet a punter and realised what my job involved. She went mental."

"So she stopped you?" Her mother asked hoping, rather than believing, that was the case.

"Not exactly… she threatened to kick me out until she realised how much we'd struggle without the money." The teenager shook her head in disgust. The movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through her and she winced. "Can you turn up the meds?" Noticing the suspicious look passing between the two brunettes, she rolled her eyes. Even that hurt. "I'm in pain; I'm not addicted or anything. I promised you, didn't I?"

"Can you blame us for wondering?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow as Nikki attracted the attention of a nurse to deal with Hollie's request. "Can you blame us for not knowing which parts of what you tell us are the truth and which aren't?"

"I saved your life and you don't even trust me…"

"No, Hollie, we don't trust you." Nikki cut in. "I would never have believed that you were capable of half the things I've found out about you in the last few hours. And I'll be blaming myself for the things you've been through for a very long time, if not the rest of my life. But it's going to take a while until I trust you again and you're not going to leave my sight for the foreseeable future."

Hollie narrowed her eyes. "So you're going to punish me for doing what I had to to survive? I was fifteen… how else was I supposed to earn enough money to keep the social off our backs?"

"You could have called me or your Mum." Jo pointed out. "We'd have come to help you, you know that."

"But I didn't know that then, did I?" The teenager told her loudly, tears forming in her eyes. She was almost shouting as her emotions boiled over and crashed out in waves. "You went to Manchester with Sam and Abi and I didn't even know where Mum was; even if I wanted to tell you… I couldn't." She paused, looking down so that she didn't have to meet their eyes. When she spoke again she was barely audible. "I'm sorry, Sam, but I hated you for a so long because I thought you were taking Auntie Jo away from me. It took me a while to realise that it was my fault. It was all my fault. All of it. Everything. If I hadn't been such a cow whenever you came to see me then… well, I dunno. But it wasn't because I didn't want you to come… I loved you being around. The thought of your visits got me through everything. And I do really like you, Sam. I was just scared you'd all suddenly disappear and leave me on my own. And then you did."

"Is that why you hated Tom so much to begin with?" Nikki asked softly, understanding appearing in her eyes. Her mouth fell open in a small 'o' as she realised just how traumatised her daughter really was. Hollie had hidden everything so well that it had taken the truth emerging to push her over the edge.

Hollie nodded. "I thought you would decide you didn't want me around if you had him and Josh. If you had a new family then you wouldn't want me anymore and you'd leave…"

"That would never happen." Her mother tried to reassure her, leaning forward and taking the teenager's hands in her own.

"I'm sorry… you must hate me. I hate me for what I've done."

Nikki moved to sit on the bed, cupping her daughter's face gently and forcing her to look up, staring into her eyes. "I hate what happened to you and I hate the things you had to do. But I don't hate you for doing them. Jo explained that you had no choice. The only person I hate is my mother for ruining our lives. I just wish you'd told us what was going on; we could have helped you, sweetheart."

As Hollie dissolved into near-hysterical tears, Jo motioned for Sam to follow her out of the room. As the teenager bawled her eyes out, letting out all of the pain and despair and hopelessness that had built up inside her over the years, her mother crawled onto the bed beside her. Nikki wrapped herself around her daughter, sobbing into the teenager's hair as she allowed her own emotions to break through the wall she usually hid them behind.

* * *

_**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely Anastasia Dove... she knows why :)**_

_**Thank you ALL, as always! x**_


	61. Chapter 61

Jo and Nikki had told Hollie about Natalie's death a couple of days after her operation. At first, the teenager couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. But then the news sank in and every time she closed her eyes she was greeted by a vision of her older sister's pale face with dull, lifeless eyes staring straight at her and an overwhelming sense of guilt took over her, despite the fact that she knew she couldn't have done anything more for Natalie.

A week after their rescue and Natalie's death, the girl's funeral was held. Hollie hadn't been able to decide whether or not she wanted to attend until a matter of two hours before the event. She had been weighing up her need to say goodbye to the sister she'd grown so close to over the past couple of months against the thought of coming face to face with her father's family. In the end, she asked Jo to go with her because Nikki had refused. The woman said she was sorry about Natalie's death, but she didn't want anything to do with the Evans family; especially now. Jo, seeing that the teenager needed her support, had reluctantly agreed and she and Hollie had slipped into the Church just after the service started and left quickly at the end so they wouldn't have to speak to anyone.

With Hollie needing to stay in hospital for a while to ensure that there was no lasting damage from the gunshot wound, as well as needing the stitches in her shoulder and stomach checked regularly and physiotherapy to get her shoulder working properly and not seize up, Nikki asked whether it would be possible for her to be transferred back to Scotland. While the woman was enjoying living with her Aunt and Uncle and spending time with them, Jo, Sam and Sam's daughter and grandson, Nikki was missing Tom and Josh and really needed to get back to work. She felt guilty about leaving Michael in the lurch for longer than was necessary now her daughter was out of danger.

Hollie, too, was missing her friends and Tom and Josh. She was slightly nervous about moving away from her Auntie Jo, although the detective had promised to visit her as often as she could as long as the teenager stayed out of trouble. But Hollie was eager to leave Manchester behind; particularly that hospital.

No sooner had Nikki got her daughter settled in the private side room at the hospital in Greenock, than her mobile had started ringing. Rolling her eyes as she realised her mother was considering letting it go to the answer phone, Hollie signalled that Nikki should answer the call. As the woman turned away slightly to do so, her daughter attempted to make herself more comfortable in the bed, hissing as the movement jarred her injured shoulder and sent pain shooting through her.

"What? What is it?" Nikki demanded in alarm at the sound.

Hollie smiled weakly. "Nothing; I'm fine. Who's on the phone?"

"Josh… he wants to know when he can come and see you."

Hollie's face fell slightly and her hand moved instinctively to the side of her face where the long, angry cut she had received during her abduction ran from just above her right eye to nearly at her jawline. The doctors had said that it was likely to leave a slight scar when it healed and Hollie, being self-conscious at the best of times, was terrified about what people might say.

"Sweetheart, it's nowhere near as bad as you think it is." Nikki assured her gently as she had done many times since Hollie had first looked in the mirror and seen the cut, knowing exactly what was bothering her daughter. "You won't even notice it once it's healed."

"I think the nurse said visiting time was 2 'til 3 and 7 'til 8." The teenager said quietly, not entirely convinced by her mother's words.

Relaying the information to the boy on the other end of the phone, Nikki hurriedly ended the call as she spotted a nurse heading along the corridor towards the room. Perching on Hollie's bed, the two women listened as Sister McKenzie outlined the details of the teenager's treatment and physio sessions. Then, with very little time for her to even say goodbye, Nikki was ushered out of the room so that Hollie could be given her pain relief medication.

With a small sigh, Nikki decided that until she was allowed back into the room at visiting time she might as well do what she had been putting off and go into school. She needed to talk to Michael about when she would start back, but she wasn't looking forward to all the inevitable questions from both staff and pupils. Knowing that it meant they cared, the woman felt bad about her reluctance to face them, but still she couldn't muster any enthusiasm at the prospect. There would be too many questions that she wouldn't want to answer and some that she didn't think she would be able to answer. There were certain things that she hadn't quite come to terms with yet and others she doubted she ever would.

Catching sight of her reflection in the window as she walked along the corridor, Nikki decided that she would go home, shower and change before heading to Waterloo Road. Her daughter had begged her not to tell everyone how bad her injuries had been and, the woman realised, if she turned up looking as though she hadn't slept in a week she wouldn't be able to convince them that Hollie was fine. She wasn't sure she'd be able to do that anyway, but she would give it a go.

An hour or so later she parked her car in the staff car park. Feeling irrationally nervous, checking her appearance in the mirror for about the tenth time, the English teacher slid out of her car and locked it, glancing towards the school. Nikki took a deep breath and made her way towards the entrance.

"Miss?"

Nikki turned as a pair of teenage girls almost ran towards her, keeping her face almost expressionless. "Hey, you two."

"How's Hollie? Is she…?" Scout looked past the woman, as though she thought her best friend might be hiding behind her.

"She's still in hospital, but she wanted me to let you know she's alright."

"She's still in hospital?" Imogen asked, frowning. "How can she be alright if she's still in hospital?"

The woman sighed. "They're keeping her under observation. She needs physio for one of her injuries, but she's perfectly healthy."

"Can we go and see her?" Scout asked insistently, blinking at her English teacher who was resolutely refusing to meet her eyes.

"I… I'm not sure."

Both girls frowned at that answer, exchanging a look. Imogen reached out and laid her hand gently on Nikki's arm. "Miss Boston… is something wrong?"

"Hollie really is alright, isn't she?" Scout added. "She's not… you're not just saying she's alright?"

"No!" Nikki snapped, more harshly than she'd intended. "My daughter is absolutely fine. But she needs rest and she's not really up to visitors yet. I'll let you know when she is."

Not waiting for them to say anything else, the woman turned and walked towards the school. She paused by the front doors and took a deep breath before heading inside. The students were wandering around in the corridors, moving between their classes. Many turned to look as she passed, whispering behind their friends and staring at her with a mixture of interest and pity. It was almost more than she could stand.

"Nikki?" A familiar, soft voice called as the woman paused to lean against the wall for a moment. Sian wrapped an arm around her and started leading her along the corridor. "Come on, love, let's get you a cuppa."

"I should go and see Michael."

Sian smiled. "He can wait."

Grateful for her friend's calmness, Nikki allowed herself to be propelled towards the staff room. Sian settled her in one of the chairs, moving to make her a coffee and keeping up a constant stream of chatter so that none of the teachers in the room were able to ask any questions. Nikki was sure that Sian was dying to ask her about Hollie and what had happened, but she was touched that the woman was restraining herself. Waiting until they were both seated with a mug in their hands and everyone else had left the room, the English teacher sighed and turned to her friend seriously.

"Twenty days… almost three weeks… that's how long she was gone." Nikki told Sian quietly. "The police think they were kept in about seven different places."

"What… what happened to her?"

Nikki shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know; not really, anyway. Jo, my cousin, interviewed her but wouldn't tell me the details. She said I didn't need to know, but it they didn't appear to have treated her too badly. They've arrested the men… it was some stupid feud between Hollie's Dad's family and some other men. Why did they have to take it out on my daughter?"

"Is she alright?" Sian asked gently, squeezing Nikki's arm. "Is she at home?"

"No… she's still in hospital. She was shot."

"She… what?"

Relaying the story of Hollie and Natalie's rescue, Nikki suddenly found that she couldn't be strong anymore. She burst into anguished sobs of fear at what might have happened, guilt at what she'd learnt about her daughter over the past couple of days and relief that Hollie was going to be alright. Sian held her close, rocking her gently and stroking her hair.

When the woman had calmed down, Sian wiped her eyes and went to make her a fresh mug of coffee. That was forgotten about when the staff room door burst open and Tom appeared, looking around wildly. When his eyes settled on Nikki, he moved across the room and crouched in front of her, his hands on her cheeks, wiping away any tears that Sian had missed.

"Are you alright? Has something happened?" He demanded, his concern causing his voice to be gruff.

Nikki shook her head. "No, no… I just thought I should come in while I was waiting for visiting time." She glanced at her watch and saw that she didn't have very long to wait. "I should get back… I don't want to be late in case… in case she thinks I'm not coming."

Tom straightened up and held out his hand to her. "I'll come with you. Josh is free this afternoon too and he'd never forgive us if we went without him."


	62. Chapter 62

They arrived at the hospital at ten to two, ten minutes before visiting time officially started. A bit of sweet talking on Josh's part meant that the nurse looked the other way as the trio slipped into Hollie's room. The girl was asleep when they arrived, which allowed Nikki to explain things properly. She told them about the possible Axillary Nerve Dysfunction which Hollie was still under observation for and the physiotherapy to maintain mobility in her shoulder. Nikki was just warning them how self-conscious her daughter was about the potential scar on her face, when the teenager blinked several times and tried to sit up. She winced as she wriggled into a comfortable seated position, frowning as she slapped her mother's hands away as Nikki tried to help her. Josh laughed softly at the independent, proud streak that ran through both mother and daughter.

They chatted for a while, Tom and Josh filling Hollie in on the Waterloo Road gossip over the last month or so while she'd been away. Deliberately keeping away from discussing her and what had happened to her, they attempted to keep the teenager's spirits up even though she said very little and just listened to the conversation taking place around her. Eventually the girl got tired and when that happened, her tolerance to the pain in her shoulder and stomach plummeted. Asking her mother to press the button that would release more pain medication into her drip, Hollie's eyes fluttered closed for a moment and she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes once more, she seemed more alert and even managed to smile at them.

Noticing the wary expression on Tom's face, Nikki motioned for him to follow her out of the room, leaving the two teenagers alone. In the corridor, she turned to face him and wrapped her arms protectively around her slim frame.

"Look, Tom, I know all this is a lot to deal with. Hollie's been through a hell of a lot and not just over the past couple of weeks. It's going to be tough getting through this; there are things that she needs to come to terms with, rather than burying and trying to pretend never happened." She said, knowing that Tom would be wondering what she was talking about seeing as she hadn't got round to filling him in on the details of Hollie's past and criminal record yet. She had told him next to nothing about what had happened after they'd found Hollie and Natalie at the warehouse. "It's going to take a lot of hard work to make sure she keeps normal mobility in her shoulder and she'll be scarred for life."

"What? Her shoulder?"

Nikki nodded. "As well as her stomach and the side of her face. But... there are emotional scars that need to be healed as well. There are things I never imagined... things I would never have... things that she's going to need love and support and a lot of patience to deal with."

Frowning, Tom's eyes roved over his girlfriend's face looking for a hint as to what she was referring to. "Nikki... what are you talking about?"

"She was a prostitute, Tom." The woman blurted out, turning away and leaning heavily against the wall. Angrily she lashed out, her balled fist connecting with the solid surface and sending a jolt of pain which she barely noticed up her arm. "Hollie… my seventeen-year-old daughter... my baby… my little girl who needed me there to protect her. She slept with men for money to pay the bills and buy food. When she needed me most I wasn't there; I didn't know anything about what was going on. And I did nothing to stop it."

Unable to believe what he was hearing, Tom attempted to pull her into his arms, but Nikki shoved him away roughly. "How... I mean, what...?"

"So you can see it's going to take time for Hollie to come to terms with everything that's happened to her. She's pretending none of it ever happened and unless she accepts it, she can't move on." The brunette told him quietly, not meeting his eyes. "So if you... If you don't want to... You've got to think about Josh and what's best for him, so I understand if... I understand if you don't want..."

Tom sighed, realising what she was trying to say. He reached out and caught her wrist, pulling her round to face him and putting his hand under her chin so that he could force her to meet his eyes. For a moment he said nothing, concentrating on pouring all of his love and commitment into his expression; willing Nikki to understand that leaving her and Hollie wasn't an option.

"I..." She started again.

"No, Nikki, now you listen to me." He cut her off gently. "Whatever Hollie's been through and whatever she needs to deal with, she needs her family around her; people who love her. Josh and I aren't going anywhere. And you need that too. You need to feel loved and be supported and cared for and that's what I'll be doing, if you'll let me. You were there for us when we needed you and now it's our turn."

"Tom..."

"You can't always be strong, Nikki. Sometimes you need to let people look after you, too."

"I have to be strong for Hols. I owe her that, at least. After everything she's been through, everything I failed to protect her from, I need to look after her now. She needs me. You don't realise how worried she was about letting you and Josh see her like that... I've tried telling her she still looks beautiful and that the scar on her face is barely noticeable, but she's a teenage girl. She's convinced that Kevin will dump her and everyone will think it's disgusting."

"She's beautiful and if I know Josh he'll be convincing her of that as we speak." He smiled. "How could she be anything less than beautiful considering she looks exactly like you?"

Nikki snorted, shrugging off his compliment. "Shut up."

He cupped her face gently and looked her in the eyes for a long moment before leaning in and kissing her. "You're beautiful."

She took a deep breath and rested her forehead against his. Nikki's eyes closed as she allowed all her fear and guilt and anger to drain away for a moment. In Tom's strong embrace she felt comfort and hope.

"You're beautiful." He repeated, kissing her forehead. "And I can't believe you thought I'd bolt at the first sign of things getting complicated."

"Sorry..."

"Don't be. Just believe me that I'm not going anywhere and I would never do anything to hurt you or Hollie."

"I know." She replied, blinking at him earnestly.

He smiled. "Good. Now, let's get back in there and try and reassure that daughter of yours that she's got nothing to worry about where Kevin's concerned."

Heading back towards Hollie's room, Nikki stopped and grasped Tom's arm. Her eyes raked over his face almost desperately. "Please don't tell Hollie I said about…"

"Her being a…"

Nikki nodded. Tom smiled and entwined their fingers. "Of course I won't."


	63. Chapter 63

Hollie's recovery continued smoothly. She didn't understand why they kept her in the hospital for so long, apart from the fact that her stitches kept working loose and were refusing to heal. A week passed before they allowed her to leave, on the condition that she came back twice the next week for physio and was very careful with her stitches. With only a week and a half until the Easter holidays, Nikki refused to even consider letting her daughter return to school.

Bored stiff between visiting hours during her week in hospital, the teenager had asked Nikki to bring in work for her to do so that she could make some attempt to catch up with her lessons. The woman had instantly agreed, pleased that her daughter seemed intent on keeping her mind busy and not letting herself fall behind. Michael had almost insisted that she only came back to work part time until Hollie was back as well, something that the English teacher was incredibly grateful for.

While Hollie had been missing, Nikki and Tom had moved all of their things into his house. They had made sure that the girl's room was exactly as she had planned it, confident that she would be home to make use of it. When she did arrive home, Hollie almost burst into grateful tears at the effort they had gone to. She spent most of her time downstairs, though, finding the stairs too tiring to go up and down constantly to begin with.

"I can't believe you've got your Mum bringing you work home." Scout announced a couple of days before the beginning of the Easter holidays. She, Imogen, Kevin, Connor and Phoenix had come round straight from school on Wednesday afternoon and were currently sprawled over the sofas and floor in the living room. "If it was me I'd just be watching telly and eating junk food."

"Yeah," Hollie agreed with a shrug, "that does sound like more fun, but if I don't catch up with the stuff I've missed I'm screwed for the exams, aren't I?"

"Surely you'll get like… extra time or something?" Phoenix suggested.

The girl shrugged, wincing slightly. "Yeah, maybe, but if I don't know what I'm doing it won't make any difference."

For a couple of minutes they sat in near silence, the film they'd put on in the background and the sound of chewing the only noises that could be heard. Josh arrived home, smiling at Hollie, before saying he had stuff to do and heading upstairs to his bedroom. When he was out of earshot, Scout turned and fixed her best friend with a hard look.

"What happened, then?" She asked, causing the others to look at Hollie as well. She shifted uncomfortably. "You haven't said anything about it."

"There's nothing to say." She told them with another shrug and another wince. Every time she moved her shoulders a ripple of pain shot through her entire body. Resisting the urge to reach for her painkillers, seeing as she hadn't told them she'd even been shot, Hollie ignored the expressions on their faces. "I was kidnapped, they moved us around a bit, we were rescued."

"But Nat died… something must have happened." Scout persisted, ignoring Imogen's slight frown. "Besides, Miss Boston's been a right moody cow since she came back to school."

Hollie clenched her fists. "Nat's death was an accident."

The sound of the front door opening prevented the blonde from being able to ask any more questions. Nikki and Tom glanced at the collection of teenagers in the living room, before heading straight into the kitchen. Another ten minutes or so passed before Hollie's friends decided that it was time to leave. The girl was exhausted, but doing her best to hide it, walking to the front door and saying goodbye.

"You alright, sweetheart?" Nikki asked gently when she returned to the living room seeing Hollie opening the bottle of painkillers with shaking hands and taking a couple quickly. The woman moved to sit beside her daughter, pulling her head gently onto her lap and stoking her hair. "Shoulder playing up?"

"Mmm… a bit." Her daughter agreed sleepily. "I'm so tired."

"I'm not surprised; spending time with that lot must have knocked it out of you." Continuing the gentle pressure on the teenager's head, Nikki pulled Hollie into a seated position with her head resting on her mother's shoulder. "Besides, you're not really used to having lots of people around, are you? It's going to take a while for you to get back to normal. Did you tell them about your shoulder?"

"No."

"No wonder it's hurting; you didn't take your painkillers when you were supposed to, did you?"

The teenager shook her head. "I waited 'til now so they wouldn't ask about them."

"Hollie… if I'd let you go back to school when you asked, then you'd have had to tell them. You couldn't hide it."

"Why not?"

"Well they'd want to know why you're not doing PE for a start." Nikki pointed out. As the painkillers started working and Hollie's pained grimace slowly vanished, the woman prodded her gently in the ribs. "Oi! Don't fall asleep. Tom and I have got something to tell you."

At once her daughter opened her eyes and blinked at her warily. "What?"

"It's nothing bad."

"But what is it?"

"It's a surprise! When Tom gets back with the takeaway we'll tell you and Josh together."

"Are you pregnant?" Hollie demanded.

Nikki burst out laughing. "No! God, no!"

Frowning, her daughter blinked at her. "Are you getting married?"

"No."

"So what is it, then? Are you splitting up?"

"No." Nikki assured her. At one time she would have known that Hollie would be hoping that they were, but now she knew that the teenager was scared that it was true. Hollie had got used to having a proper family around her and what progress she'd made so far would have been ruined. "No, we're not. Just be patient and you'll find out what it is."

"But Mum–"

"But Hollie!" Her mother joked, ruffling her hair. The teenager sighed. Then she screwed up her face slightly, chewing on the inside of her cheek nervously. "What's wrong?"

"There's something I want to ask you."

"Go on?"

"What would you… I mean, I've been thinking and… I want to change my name. Like, officially."

"To what?" Nikki asked, raising an eyebrow. "Arthur?"

Hollie couldn't help smirking slightly. She swatted her mother lightly on the arm. "No! I don't want to be an Evans anymore. I want to be a Boston… like you. As soon as possible. I've looked into it and I don't need permission because I'm over sixteen, but I wanted to… what do you think?"

"Really?" A broad smile crept slowly over Nikki's face as she took in what her daughter had said. Her eyes flickered over Hollie's face for a moment, before she hugged her tightly. "Are you sure? That's… that's amazing!"

The sound of the door opening caused both women to look up quickly. Nikki smiled even more broadly. "See, patience. And it sounds like we've got two things to celebrate now!"

Tom called Josh down and went into the kitchen. Nikki disentangled herself from her daughter and moved to help him. She returned a couple of moments later, handing the girl a plate of Chicken Chow Mein with a smile. Hollie was too interested in what her mother and Tom were going to tell them to pay much attention to her dinner. She watched as Josh flopped down into the armchair and started attacking his own food with gusto, apparently unaware that there was going to be some kind of announcement.

"What is it?" She demanded impatiently as the two teachers settled themselves beside her on the sofa.

"Eh?" Josh glanced up from his food, his fork hovering between the plate and his mouth.

Hollie glanced at him. "They've got something to tell us."

The boy's gaze flickered between their parents quickly, settling on Nikki. "Are you pregnant?"

She laughed again. "No! That was Hols' first thought too."

"Are you getting married?"

"And that was her second thought." The woman continued, grinning at them. "It's nothing like that."

"In comparison it's going to seem really small." Tom added, grinning. "We thought that we might go away for Easter."

"What, like the weekend?" Josh asked interestedly.

His Dad shook his head. "How about ten days in Spain?"

"We fly to Seville on Saturday." Nikki informed them, grinning broadly at the excited confusion on Josh's face. "Ten days of sun and sightseeing and relaxation. At the moment the temperature is about eighteen degrees."

"I haven't got a passport." Hollie informed her. Her face was a puzzle to the others, not giving away how she felt about the surprise.

Nikki was slightly surprised at her reaction. "It's fine, we sorted it. Aren't you excited?"

"Yeah… I guess so. I've never been to Spain before. I've never been out of the UK before." Hollie sighed. "And it means I get another extra time to prepare myself for school."

* * *

_**A/N: Have another chapter! I know, I'm like an updating machine at the moment - that's gotta be a good thing, though, right? :P**_

_**On a SLIGHTLY unconnected note, on a whim I bought Heather Peace's album Fairytales and I cannot stop listening to it. To the point that my brother (who was staying with me for the weekend) is claiming that he now knows all the words! It's probably a good job I like it, 'cos I couldn't really afford to spend £8 on a whim! Haha!**_

_**Anyway, I'm off to a family dinner tonight... wish me luck!**_

_**x**_


	64. Chapter 64

Their ten days in Spain were lovely. Tom had booked them a luxury apartment in the centre of the city close to all the tourist spots. They spent their time exploring and seeing the sights.

One day, they took a trip to Cadiz, somewhere Nikki had always wanted to go. She enthused about various plazas and buildings, while Josh and Hollie were more interested in going to the beach. Nikki and Tom lounged on the sand, while the teenagers played in the sea. For the first few days she was in Spain, the teenager had been reluctant to wear anything other than t-shirts. She was worried about her still un-healed wounds and the stitches. She didn't even want Tom and Josh seeing them. As the temperature rose slightly she became more relaxed, however, and she found that she didn't care. When neither male made any comment about the puckered skin on both the front and back of her right shoulder or the angry gash across her stomach, her confidence increased even more.

Josh tried convincing their parents to take them to Marbella or Malaga one day; he even planned the route on the internet and worked out that it would take about two and a half hours in the car Tom had rented. Their parents took a lot of convincing, but finally they agreed to taking two days to explore that area of the coast. They travelled to Malaga, exploring Torremolinos and Fuengirola and finally Marbella, before heading back to Seville. Nikki hated it, claiming that it was too touristy around there. Hollie was inclined to agree, but the boys loved it.

By the time they flew home, all four were suitably relaxed and very tanned. With her skin browned by the sun, Hollie's scars were far less visible and that gave her confidence that she'd be able to handle people seeing them when she got back to school. She was still glad that they weren't in highly visible places, though.

Between all the sightseeing and adventures and sunbathing, Hollie had managed to catch up with all the work she'd missed. She had also, with Nikki, Tom and Josh's help, completed all the holiday work they had been set. With her exams due to start in May, she was conscious that if she wanted to make Nikki and Jo proud of her, she needed to work hard.

Their flight back from Spain had got into Manchester on Monday and the four of them had stayed with Jo's parents that night. Then Nikki and Tom had driven back to Greenock to prepare for the new term, while the teenagers stayed in Manchester until the following Monday. Josh had loved the chance to see his friends in Rochdale, delighting in introducing Hollie to Finn and Trudi and everyone else. Hollie was pleased that the boy had got on very well with Jo and Sam and the women had promised to visit them all before too long.

x-x

"You got everything?" Nikki called through to the teenagers on Tuesday morning. Not wanting Hollie to know the real reason she was so keen to drive her daughter to school, Nikki had pointed out there was no point her tiring herself out when she didn't need to. She was now regretting the offer as the teenagers were threatening to make them late for her first day as Head of the Pupil Referral Unit. "Josh? Hols? Oi!"

The teenagers were lounging in the living room in front of cartoons on the television. Josh was steadily making his way through a bowl of cocoa pops and Hollie was clutching a half-empty mug of tea. Nikki leant against the door frame watching them with a small smile. A clatter behind her alerted the woman to Tom's slightly chaotic presence in the kitchen and she turned, widening her smile.

"Is this what a normal family is like?" She asked softly, leaning back against him as they watched the teenagers snort with laughter at the antics of the characters on the television screen.

"It's what a normal family who are going to be late is like." Tom replied giving her a quick kiss and moving into the living room. Ignoring the annoyed shouts from Hollie and Josh, he turned off the television. "Come on, kids!"

Reluctantly they pulled themselves to their feet and dashed around, depositing their breakfast things in the dishwasher and grabbing bags and jackets. Nikki handed Josh his ICT Coursework, which he shoved unceremoniously into his bag. She sighed, knowing that it would be crumpled beyond repair, but said nothing because they were already running late.

"Oh, Hol…" Tom grabbed something from the table at the foot of the stairs where all the junk mail ended up. "I found this just now. It must have got kicked under the radiator when we dragged the suitcases in."

Frowning slightly, the teenager took the envelope off him, glancing at the writing and finding that she didn't recognise it. Curiously she opened it, following the others to Tom's car and getting into the back as she pulled a sheet of paper out. She stared at it blankly for a moment, before pushing it back into the envelope and stuffing it into the pocket in the back of the driver's seat.

"What is it?" Nikki asked nervously, turning in her seat to fix the teenager with a wary look.

"My Nan… my other Nan, Paula Evans." Hollie told her quietly. "She wants to see me."

"Oh…"

"But… I can't."

"Why not?" Josh asked curiously.

Hollie shrugged. "I just… It's too much. Natalie was one thing, but meeting my Nan means meeting my Dad and Aunts and Uncles and cousins and brothers and sisters… I can't do that."

"It doesn't necessarily mean you have to meet all those other people." Tom reasoned with her.

"Tom's right." Nikki agreed. "You could just write back to Paula if you wanted to, just to get to know her a bit. I might not like Andy very much, but Paula was always good to me."

"I will… maybe… probably…" The teenager sighed.

She stared out of the window as Tom drove into the school car park and stopped the engine. They all climbed out of the car and headed towards the building. Hollie knew that the other three were watching her warily, obviously wondering how she was going to cope with being back at school after so long. It had been two months since she'd last set foot inside Waterloo Road.

"Come on." Josh said after a moment. "Let's go."

"I'll see you first lesson." Tom called after the girl. He turned to Nikki, who sighed as the teenager turned and nodded, pushing her arm through Josh's and heading quickly into the building.

"At least I've got a full day to keep me occupied." Hollie muttered to Josh as they headed up the stairs together. She frowned as a boy she didn't recognise pushed past her roughly, almost knocking her backwards. "Who the hell was that?"

Josh glanced over his shoulder and sighed. "No idea. New kid, probably."

"Oh…"

Josh glanced sideways at her and frowned slightly in concern at the expression on her face. Holding open the door to the common room he moulded his face into a smile. "What's up?"

"Things have really changed around here, haven't they?" Hollie asked, sighing.

He nodded and hugged her for a moment. "It'll be fine."


	65. Chapter 65

"Hollie?" The teenager glanced up as the secretary called her name across the sixth form area a matter of moments after she and Josh had walked in. "Mr Byrne wants to see you in his office."

Nodding, she returned the reassuring smile Josh was sending her and followed Sonya towards the head's office. All the way there she was mentally arguing with herself, trying to shake herself out of the strange, self-conscious mood that had settled on her as soon as she'd stepped out of Tom's car and entered the building. One hand automatically moved to the fading scar on the side of her face as she sat on one of the seats outside Mr Byrne's office, staring at the floor rather than at the four people opposite.

She glanced up as the door opened and Mrs Diamond almost barged in, asking for a quick word with the head. The teacher paused as her eye fell on Hollie and she smiled gently. "Hollie, hi! It's great to have you back."

"Thanks, Miss…" The teenager replied weakly. She wondered what her mother had told the woman and guessed, from the expression on her face, that it was quite a lot.

"_Miss Barry?_" Michael said to the woman sitting opposite Hollie, almost completely ignoring Sian's presence.

Hollie exchanged a quick smile with Lorraine Donegan as she swept out of the office. It was a relief to see no pity or sympathy whatsoever on the blonde's face as she looked at the teenager.

"_Michael, we really need to talk._" Sian pressed as the woman and her three children stood and gathered their things.

From her seat opposite theirs, Hollie recognised the boy as the one who'd pushed past her on the stairs and stared blankly at him as he shot her a cheeky smile and a wink. The smallest of the teenagers sent her a dirty look and the girl looked Hollie up and down slowly, before following her mother into the office. Shaking her head slightly, Hollie sank down into her seat.

"_You know, you really should schedule meetings through me._" Sonya informed Sian. "_Mr Byrne's on a very tight schedule._"

As the Deputy Head sighed, Mr Byrne turned to his secretary quickly. "_Sonya, can you get_ _Imogen Stewart up here for me, please?_" His eyes fell on Hollie and he smiled. "I'll be with you in a minute, Hollie." Then he turned back to Sian. "_Can we do it later? Arrange it with Sonya._" He headed into his office, closing the door behind him.

Sian shook her head in disbelief, before rearranging her expression and moving to sit beside Hollie. She smiled warmly at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I suppose Mum told you what happened… with my shoulder?" Hollie asked. Sian nodded again and the teenager sighed. "It's alright… it gets a bit painful sometimes, but I'm still on medication for that. I've got to go to physio sessions once a week to make sure the mobility stays…"

"Have you told your friends what happened?" Sian asked gently, her eyes searching the teenager's face to make sure she was being completely honest.

She shook her head. "No. I haven't told them anything apart from that my sister died." As the teacher squeezed her hand sympathetically, the girl took a breath and smiled. "Scout said my Mum's been a right moody cow lately. Has she?"

Sian laughed. "Let's just say she's been a bit tense. It's understandable, though; what with what's happened with you and Michael asking her to take on the PRU."

Before Hollie could ask what the PRU actually entailed, the office door opened again and Sian stood up. She gave Hollie a smile and squeezed her arm, before heading through the door into the corridor and out of sight. The teenager caught Sonya looking at her curiously as the woman and her three children paraded past and Mr Byrne called her into his office.

"Now, Hollie, I thought I'd get you into my office for a little chat before you get settled back in. We're all delighted that you're back, of course. How are you feeling?" He asked as soon as he was settled in his seat behind the desk.

Thinking that she might punch the next person to ask her how she felt, the girl managed a small smile. "I'm alright, thanks, Sir. It's strange being back, but I'm sure I'll settle back in in no time."

"Excellent." He nodded. "I also wanted to quickly let you know that your mother has told us about you changing your name legally, so all the registers and the database have been updated. From now on you'll be referred to as Hollie Joanne Boston, alright?"

"Thanks, Sir." She agreed with a nod and a smile. The knowledge that she was properly being acknowledged as her mother's daughter filled her with an extra surge of confidence.

"Right then… any problems just come and see me. Alright?"

With a nod, the girl picked up her bag and left the office quickly. Imogen rose as the door opened and Hollie smiled at her, giving her friend a quick hug before the Head ushered her into his office. Shooting Sonya, who was still looking at her curiously, a small smile, Hollie headed off towards her first lesson as the bell rang.

Tom, who had taken over Nikki's year 12 class when she'd been put in charge of the PRU, grinned at her reassuringly as Hollie took her seat beside Kevin near the back of the classroom.

"Right… settle down you lot." He called. "Seeing as Miss Boston's been put in charge of the PRU, I'm taking over your lessons on a Monday and Tuesday. Mrs Mulgrew will still be teaching the rest of your English sessions. Now let's get stared shall we?" He asked, opening the register. "Jessica Baker… Hollie Boston…"

There was a ripple of chatter around the room of teenagers as Hollie answered to her new name. Kevin looked at her in confusion and she stared back, sending him a little shrug in response.

x-x

Hollie found her first day back incredibly difficult. Although Imogen and Kevin were around almost constantly, Imogen had been assigned to look after Dynasty Barry and the pair of them appeared to be getting on pretty well. Kevin was distracted by the idea of being fostered by Mr Chalk soon and his mind seemed to be all over the place. With Scout in the PRU, the brunette felt isolated and couldn't wait for the end of the day. Even when Hollie did see her best friend at break time, all Scout did was moan about Nikki being harsh.

At lunchtime, Josh discovered the girl sitting in his father's car, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. When he questioned her, Hollie told him that she'd asked Tom for the keys because she'd left something in there and needed to get it. The truth, she reluctantly admitted after some gentle nagging, was that she was having a hard time adjusting to being back at school. As he moved to hug her, Hollie winced.

"You have taken your tablets, right?" Josh asked, arching an eyebrow as he guessed the answer.

Hollie didn't meet his eyes. "No… I don't want to get addicted."

"They wouldn't have given them to you if you didn't need them!" He pointed out with a sigh. Pulling her bag onto his lap, the boy rummaged around inside for the bottle. He fished it out after a couple of moments, unscrewing the lid and tipping two of the pills into her hand. "They'll make you feel better. Hollie!"

Reluctantly she took the tablets, swigging from the water bottle he held out in her direction. "Thanks…"

"Look, I know what it's like better than most people; everyone asking if you're OK, feeling like you don't belong anymore, paranoid that everyone's looking at you and talking about you…" Josh told her gently. "But it'll get better, Hols, it'll get easier."

"Really?"

"It might not seem like it now, but it will. I promise."


	66. Chapter 66

The rest of the week passed slowly. Hollie struggled through, preferring to be in lessons than in frees or on break or lunch. Listening to teachers and keeping her mind occupied stopped Hollie wondering whether people were talking about her and it also had the added benefit that no one could question her about what had happened. So far, she'd managed to fend off all attempts by her friends and various other students about where she'd been and why, but her frustration was increasing with every question. It didn't help that Josh kept checking that she was taking her medication. She knew it was because he cared, but that didn't help.

At lunchtime on Thursday the two teenagers were waiting for Nikki so that they could get a lift home – with Hollie being excused from PE because of her arm and Josh having a double free – when she appeared out of the staff room looking furious. Hollie frowned at her mother's expression and tilted her head slightly to one side enquiringly.

"Mum? What's happened?"

"My car's been stolen!" Nikki informed them.

They exchanged a look. "What? Have you phoned the police?"

"I've had enough of the police for a while." The woman replied with a sigh.

"Yeah, but if your car's been nicked you should let them know, Nikki."

"I've got a good idea who took it… I confiscated Scout's mobile and a letter this morning and now they're gone, along with my car keys." She told them, glancing at her watch.

Hollie frowned. "Scout wouldn't nick your car, Mum."

"Really?"

"No way!" The teenager replied, shaking her head. "Look… I'll go and mention it to her… see if she knows anything."

With a nod, the teenager made her way back to the common room, while Josh stayed with Nikki. Immediately Hollie dropped onto one of the sofas, Kevin joining her and draping an arm around her shoulders. Scout rolled her eyes at his almost possessive gesture and turned away to hunt for something in her school bag. Hollie observed her for a moment before speaking.

"So, do you know what happened to my Mum's car?" She asked finally, as casually as she could manage.

"What?" Scout demanded, whirling round to face the brunette. Her eyes flashed dangerously. "You're supposed to be my mate."

"I am! I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm ju–"

"Yeah? Sounds like it."

Hollie narrowed her eyes. "If you didn't have anything to do with it, why are you getting so defensive?"

"Because I've been accused of nicking a car and I never!" Scout snapped furiously, jumping to her feet. Hollie stood too, not wanting to give the blonde the upper hand. "I never touched the bloody car!"

"That's all I wanted to know!"

"Why did you even have to ask?" Scout shouted at her.

By that point the common room had gone very quiet, everyone watching the two girls screaming at each other in the centre of the room. On the sofas around them, their friends exchanged wary glances, wondering how the atmosphere had become so volatile so quickly. It had descended from friendly calm to war in a matter of seconds. Imogen exchanged a wary, wide-eyed look with Kevin and he shrugged in response, not particularly wanting to get between them.

"Because you don't seem particularly bothered about it!"

"Why should I?"

"Because it's my Mum's car!"

Scout glared at her. "And? A couple of months ago you would probably have nicked it yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hollie demanded furiously.

"You know what it means. She was a cow to you; she ruined your life, remember? She's a bitch! Now she's being a bitch to me and she deserves whatever she gets."

"You're just jealous! Just because your Mum can't be arsed to even ring you, you're taking it out on mine."

Sarcastically, the blonde nodded. "Yeah, course I'm jealous of you having Nikki bloody Boston as your Mum. I'd rather die than admit she was my Mum. She dumped you on your Grandparents as soon as she could and buggered off in the army, didn't she? She'd rather put herself in the line of bullets and bombs than be with you!"

"Yeah? At least my Mum didn't try to sell me!" Hollie shot back.

"She wouldn't get much if she did!"

"More than you!"

"Oh, yeah? Go on then, how much d'you reckon your worth?"

"Shut it!" Hollie screamed, going hot and cold at the implications of the question.

"You think you're so bloody perfect, don't you? You think no one can touch you with your cow of a mother and Clarkson on your side. What if everyone found out what you're really like?"

A loud thud broke the stunned silence that followed Scout's words. The blonde staggered backwards at the power behind Hollie's punch. When her brain had caught up and she realised what had happened, Scout let out a furious snarl and leapt at the brunette, grabbing fistfuls of her hair and aiming kicks and slaps at her. Equally furious, Hollie returned the attack, screeching with anger.

No one seemed to have any idea what to do and simply watched the two girls fighting. Outside, Nikki and Sian were walking past the common room, discussing the progress of the PRU so far. At the sound of the commotion from the room, both women turned to glance inside, expecting to see yet another forbidden game of indoor football taking place. As the realisation of what was actually happening sank in, they sprinted towards the girls, pulling them apart and demanding an explanation. Both girls started shouting at once, making it impossible for the teachers to get any idea of what had happened.

"Right, Cooler, both of you!" Nikki shouted over the noise. When they made no signs of calming down, both still struggling against the arms holding them firmly, the teachers were forced to physically move them out of the common room. "Now!"

Realising that confining them to the Cooler together would probably lead to serious injury – or worse – Sian deposited Scout in an empty classroom while Nikki left her daughter in the Cooler. They frowned at each other in the corridor outside, looking through the blind covered windows at the two girls. Scout was pacing around the room, kicking chairs and tables that got in her way with a look of pure fury on her face. Hollie, too, was moving around the room, with clenched fists. The expression on her face, however, was less angry and more pained.

"What the hell has got into them?" Sian muttered as they continued to watch the girls.

"I have a horrible feeling that this might be my fault." Nikki sighed, rubbing a hand over her face tiredly.

Her friend looked at her curiously. "How?"

"I've been having a lot of trouble with Scout since we got back after Easter. She didn't take kindly to being put in the PRU and then… I accused her of stealing my car without thinking…. I know Hols' been finding it difficult with the tension between me and her best friend… but this…?"

"She's not violent… neither of them are." Sian conceded, chewing her lip. "We should tell Michael. But first I think we should go to the common room and find out what actually happened."

"Is it safe to leave them?" The brunette English teacher half joked, her gaze flicking between the two girls. They reminded her of caged lions the way they were pacing agitatedly around the rooms.

Sian smiled wryly. "I think so."

Together they headed back along the corridor to the common room, finding that the volume of chatter had risen to a normal level in their absence. They guessed that the fight between Scout and Hollie was probably the main topic of conversation. Spotting the girls' friends in their usual seats, the two teachers joined them and perched on the sofas, looking at them seriously. Knowing what was coming, the assembled students exchanged looks, apparently psychically trying to get their stories straight about what had happened.

"So? Who's going to tell us?" Nikki asked, looking around at them. Her gaze landed on Imogen and she raised an eyebrow. "Imogen? What happened?"

"I…" The girl started.

Imogen glanced around warily at her friends. Then she sighed and gave the women a full account of what had gone on between the girls. Nikki paled visibly as the teenager explained, clutching at the sofa as though it was a lifeline. When Imogen finished, she nodded curtly and almost ran from the room, leaving the others to watch in confusion. Sian stood and thanked them before she followed her friend out, spotting her leaning heavily against the wall.

"Nik?"

"Mmm?"

"You alright?"

Nikki sighed and shook her head, squeezing her eyes closed. "Hollie was defending me and now look where it's got her. She's fallen out with her best friend, she'll have to be suspended at the very least and after the way she reacted to Scout's comments it'll probably get out that–" She stopped speaking abruptly, shaking her head again. "I've ruined her life again."

"It'll probably get out that what?" Sian asked gently.

"I can't… I just… can't."

"Nikki, what happened to Hollie?" The woman asked, more firmly. She thought over what Imogen had told them Scout had said and tried to apply it to what Nikki had let slip. A thought occurred to her, but she dismissed it, unwilling to entertain the thoughts in her mind. "What's going to get out?"

"She was a prostitute, Sian." Nikki almost snapped. "My daughter slept with men to get money for food and bills rather than asking me for help."

The Deputy Head couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Hollie? No." There was a pause as the woman tried to get her head around the information. "Does… does Tom know? Or Josh?"

Nikki shook her head. "Tom knows; I told him a couple of weeks ago. No one else knows, as far as I'm aware, except my cousin and her girlfriend. And now you, of course."

"I won't say anything." Sian promised with a sigh. "But we do need to go and tell Michael about this."


	67. Chapter 67

"Out of all the students in this school I didn't expect to have you two in my office for fighting!" Mr Byrne shouted at the teenage girls standing in front of his desk. Scout opened her mouth to interject, but he cut across her loudly. "I will not have students at this school behaving like that."

"But, Sir–"

"No, Jodie. I thought I'd made it very clear that I wouldn't tolerate any sort of tension between students in the main school and the PRU."

Hollie snorted. "It ain't nothing to do with her being in the PRU."

"Oh, really, Hollie? Then would you care to enlighten me what it was about?" Michael demanded, raising his eyebrows at her. She didn't answer, clenching her jaw and staring resolutely at her feet. There was no way she was going to tell the Head Teacher what Scout had been saying about her mother, let alone what she'd said about her. If nothing else, she wasn't a grass. "Luckily for you, I've spoken to Mrs Diamond and Miss Boston and they have convinced me that, as this is completely out of character for the both of you, I shouldn't have you suspended."

"Really?" Scout asked, sounding relieved.

"You will both spend the next week in isolation and write a two page essay on why violence is the worst method of solving difficulties. After that we'll be keeping an eye on the pair of you and if you step one foot out of line I will reconsider your punishments." He informed them, his face set in an expression of determined anger. "Hollie, go and wait outside and someone will take you back to the classroom where you can get on with some work. Jodie, I'd like a word."

With a sigh, the brunette left the office. She dropped onto one of the chairs against the wall and winced. Her fight with Scout had done more than probably ending their friendship and landing her in isolation for a week. Her shoulder was in absolute agony and only by biting hard on her bottom lip could the teenager distract herself from the pain. Her stomach wasn't much better, either.

After a couple of minutes, with Sonya unslyly sneaking looks at her over the top of her computer monitor, Tom appeared to accompany Hollie back to the classroom she'd been put in after her fight with Scout. He didn't say anything as they walked her to the room and opened the door, ushering her inside. Hollie's stomach was churning as she looked at him, trying to work out whether he was angry or, worse, disappointed with her. That thought showed her how much her feelings towards him had changed.

"T– Sir…" She started hesitantly as he put her bag on the table closest to the door. "I…"

"What happened?" He demanded, perching on the table beside her bag and folding his arms.

"Didn't Mum tell you?" Hollie asked curiously and Tom shook his head. She had thought that he would have been her mother's first port of call after going to Mr Byrne, but apparently not. "Scout was… Mum told me that she thought Scout might be behind her car being nicked and I just asked her if she knew anything about it. She started calling Mum a cow and a bitch and I saw red. I shouldn't have gone for her… but I did. I started it; it was my fault. But I'm not sorry."

Tom sighed. "Hollie…"

"I don't need a lecture; we've already had one from Mr Byrne." She told him firmly. "But I really do need my painkillers."

His face fell as he took in how pale the teenager was and immediately rummaged in her bag, pulling out the little bottle and handing it to her. He noticed her hands shaking as she opened it and swallowed a couple quickly. Holding out a bottle of water, Tom gently wrapped an arm around Hollie's shoulders, keeping one eye on the window guardedly. Things were bad enough for the teenager without Scout walking past and claiming Hollie was receiving preferential treatment.

"Hollie?" Tom asked as the girl winced as he touched her injured shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"My shoulder…" She ground out between gritted teeth. Gingerly she eased her zip-up hoody off and revealed a blood stain spreading from either side of her shoulder. "I must have popped the stitches again…"

Sighing, Tom stood up and pulled Hollie to her feet as well. He nodded towards the door. "Come on, we need to get you to the hospital to get that dealt with."

Reluctantly she nodded and gathered up her things, following him from the room. As they climbed the stairs on their way back to Mr Byrne's office so that Tom could clear taking Hollie to hospital with the Head Teacher before they left, they passed Scout being escorted to the Cooler by Mrs Diamond. The blonde girl narrowed her eyes and leant sulkily against the wall as Tom pulled Sian aside for a moment to tell her what was happening. The woman's eyes widened in horror and she glanced at Hollie, who abruptly looked away, concentrating on the pain in her shoulder.

The pain had receded to a dull throbbing after the painkillers had kicked in. The ache was becoming a constant presence in the background of her life and Hollie was starting to rely on it. It gave her something to focus on and distract her from everything else in her mind. Things that had been dragged up after the events of the past couple of months now refused to be locked away. In a way, Hollie was glad that her stitches were refusing to heal because it kept the distraction alive.

"Oh my god… are you bleeding?" Scout demanded suddenly. Hollie glanced down and realised that her jacket had slid off her shoulder slightly, revealing the fresh stain on her shirt. Hastily she dragged the material back over the spot, wincing involuntarily at the movement. "I never did that! She must have done it to herself!"

"That's enough, Scout." Tom commanded firmly.

"No, but, Sir… I'm not taking the blame for that! She must have cut herself or something!" Scout argued as Hollie kept her gaze firmly on the floor, one hand clutching her jacket securely in place.

"Enough!" Sian said forcefully. "Come on, Scout."

Tom waited until they were out of sight before putting his arm around Hollie and propelling her up the stairs towards the Head's office. "You alright?"

"Yeah… I'm fine."

Not looking convinced, Tom seated the girl on a chair and ignored Sonya's protests. He knocked firmly and opened Michael's door, going in without waiting for a response. After a couple of minutes he reappeared and nodded at Hollie. She stood and followed him from the room, allowing him to wrap his arm around her once more and lead her down the stairs. Tom pulled out his mobile and phoned Josh, telling him what was happening as they went. By the time they reached the car park, the boy was waiting for them, looking concerned.

"Dad… Nikki drove us this morning and her car was nicked, remember?" Josh pointed out.

That thought had not occurred to Hollie or Tom before then and they looked at each other, wondering what to do. Instructing the teenagers to wait where they were, the man darted back into the building. Josh awkwardly tried to get the girl to talk to him, to tell him what was going on in her head, but Hollie refused to meet his eyes or answer him.

A couple of minutes passed and then the doors opened and Tom and Sian appeared. The woman smiled and pointed them towards her car instead. She dropped Tom at home so that he could pick up his car, before driving the teenagers to the hospital. Sian booked Hollie in, explaining what had happened, before sitting with her and Josh in the waiting area. When the teenager's name was called, Josh went with her to get the stitches redone and Sian waited for Tom. By the time they emerged from the cubicle, the woman had gone and Tom was sitting in her place.

Hollie was quiet as they drove back to school. Tom and Josh put it down to her fight with Scout and her stitches popping and all the emotions that went with those situations, leaving her to her own thoughts. The girl wasn't sure how she felt. She wasn't sure if she felt anything at all. It might have been the medication they'd given her at the hospital inhibiting her ability to feel, but she decided that surely that should only have affected her physically; not mentally or emotionally.

She had known that it would be hard returning to school, but Hollie hadn't realised just how hard it would be. And she had never expected that she would have been forced to choose between her mother and her best friend.

* * *

_**A/N: This is POSSIBLY the last update for a week or so... I'm going to stay with some mates and I'm not sure whether I'll take my laptop or not. **__**Well, hopefully I'm going to stay with some mates... unless the snow ruins my plans!**_

_**I watched a couple of episodes of WR series 1 yesterday and Tom is SUCH a baby! It was adorable!**_

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks to Anastasia Dove, PondGirl11 and LucyMaxine for reviewing :)**_


	68. Chapter 68

Hollie had avoided her Facebook profile since she'd come out of hospital. Considering that she'd been on the site for about half a year, since Scout had set it up for her, the girl had been bordering on obsessive over it. Before her abduction not a single day had passed without her logging on; often leaving it up in the background while she got on with whatever else she was supposed to be doing and checking it every now and then for updates. For some reason, though, after her argument with Scout, Hollie had a sudden urge to log in again.

As soon as dinner was finished and the washing up was done, Hollie escaped upstairs under the pretence of needing to finish an essay. She wanted to feel normal again; she wanted to feel like she had before all this had started. She wanted to erase the past two months from her memory.

The girl waited impatiently for Facebook to load, wondering whether Scout would have broadcast their fight on the site. Hollie didn't mind the blonde having a go at her, but didn't want her saying anything about her Mum. Going straight to Scout's page, Hollie was relieved to see that the last post she had written was the night before, complaining about Mr Budgen.

With that fear temporarily alleviated, Hollie realised with a jolt of surprise that she had a notification to tell her she had fifteen pending friend requests. Curiously, she clicked the icon, wondering who they could be from.

**Barry Barry** _Confirm / Not Now_

37 mutual friends

**Dynasty Barry** _Confirm / Not Now_

29 mutual friends

**Finn Sharkey** _Confirm / Not Now_

7 mutual friends

**Lauren Andrews** _Confirm / Not Now_

7 mutual friends

**Trudi Siddiqui** _Confirm / Not Now_

6 mutual friends

**Rhona Mansfield** _Confirm / Not Now_

6 mutual friends

**Shona Mansfield** _Confirm / Not Now_

6 mutual friends

**Jo Masters** _Confirm / Not Now_

3 mutual friends

**Samantha Nixon** _Confirm / Not Now_

3 mutual friends

**Abi Nixon** _Confirm / Not Now_

3 mutual friends

**Paula Evans** _Confirm / Not Now_

1 mutual friend

**Zoe Jayne Palmer** _Confirm / Not Now_

**Jayden Hallas** _Confirm / Not Now_

**Gavin Ashton** _Confirm / Not Now_

**Mitch Payne** _Confirm / Not Now_

Without needing to think about it, Hollie accepted Jo, Sam and Abi's requests and the requests from Barry and Dynasty and Josh's friends that she'd met in Rochdale the week before. Then she stared at her other pending requests, wondering what to do about them. Almost wincing as she did so, she clicked 'confirm' beside her Grandmother's name, deciding that it would be rude if she blocked the request. Then she accepted Zoe's and Jayden's as well, remembering what Jo had said in the hospital about them being concerned about her. After a moment's hesitation, she declined Gavin and Mitch's requests.

"What are you doing?" Nikki asked, making her daughter jump as she appeared in her bedroom with a mug of tea for the teenager.

Hollie glanced up, almost as though she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't. Paula's profile was on the screen of her laptop and as Nikki's eyes fell on it, the girl felt as though she was betraying her mother. "She added me and I thought it would be really rude to decline it. I mean, after Nat… well, after her losing one Granddaughter and…" Hollie told her quickly. "But if you want me to, I'll–"

"No… no, of course not, sweetheart." The woman shook her head, smiling weakly. It looked as though she would prefer her not to get involved with the other side of her family, but she didn't say anything. "Whatever you want to do…"

"Thanks, Mum." The girl blinked a couple of times, smiling weakly. "For… for the tea."

Nikki smiled back, pressing a kiss to her daughter's head. She lingered there for a couple of seconds, her eyes squeezed tightly closed. Then she straightened up and smiled more broadly. "Oh, you might want to keep an eye on your feed… Tom's about to upload the photos from Spain."

Hollie groaned. "What? Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a show-off." Nikki told her with a chuckle. After a moment, Hollie's face fell and she opened her mouth to ask a question. Pre-empting it, her mother nodded. "We've been through them and made sure there are none where your scars are very visible. If you look very closely at a couple you can make them out, but he won't put any on that you wouldn't like."

"Thank you." Hollie said gratefully, standing up and burying her face in her mother's shoulder. "For everything."

Pulling back slightly, Nikki cupped Hollie's face and looked into her eyes. "Hey… you don't need to thank me, sweetheart. I love you and I promise that I will always be here when you need me."

"I love you too."

"Is that why you got into a fight with your best mate, then?" Hollie made an indistinguishable sound, screwing up her face, dropping back into her chair and scowling at the floor. "You and Scout were inseparable… and then this happened? What's worth losing your friendship and ending up in isolation for a week?"

"I just asked her about your car, that's all."

"Really?"

"Yes!" The teenager looked imploringly at her mother, sensing she wasn't totally convinced. Hollie guessed that she already knew what had happened from Imogen and the others. "I just asked if she had any idea and she got all jumpy. Then she started calling you a cow and a bitch and I lost it."

Nikki was touched that her daughter had been defending her, but she didn't say anything. It wasn't as though she was under any illusions that Hollie thought her behaviour was the right way to handle the situation, but the woman didn't want to give any indication that she was proud of her daughter. "Imogen said something about… everyone finding out what you're really like. What did she mean? Have you told her…?"

"No!" Hollie replied at once, shaking her head vehemently. "I haven't told anyone and I don't intend to. I dunno what she meant. She was probably just mouthing off…"

"If you want me to have a word with her–"

The teenager almost leapt out of her seat. "No! Really, Mum… just leave it."

Sighing, the woman crouched on the floor in front of her daughter. She took Hollie's hands in hers and stared at them for a couple of moments, closing her eyes. Then she glanced up and smiled weakly. "Hols, I appreciate you sticking up for me, I really do. You don't know how happy I am that you want to do that. But I don't want you getting yourself into trouble because of me."

"Mum, I just…" She stopped. Then she frowned. "What happened between you and me is our business, no one else's. Scout had no right to say those things about you. I weren't about to just sit there and listen to it. I told her to shut up and she didn't. Maybe I shouldn't have smacked her, but I did. And I'd do it again in a second to stop her saying stuff about you; whatever you or Tom or Mr Byrne says."

Nikki didn't know what to say. Her daughter looked so determined, so feisty, so protective, that she couldn't even begin to formulate everything she felt into a coherent sentence. She felt a lump forming in her throat as Hollie's words rang in her ears. The woman couldn't believe that in such a short space of time everything had turned around so drastically; not just for Hollie, but for her as well.

Rather than speaking, Nikki just nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter's head. She paused and inhaled the now familiar scent of the teenager; the smell seeming to calm her down and reassure her that everything would turn alright in the end. Then she dropped another kiss into Hollie's hair and walked to the door. Glancing over her shoulder just before she left the room, Nikki spotted what the teenager was doing. Her face split in a broad smile as Hollie clicked save in her account settings, heading downstairs to inform Tom that he would need to search Hollie Boston when tagging the photos of their holiday, not Hollie Evans.

* * *

_**A/N: So... I'm epically snowed in and couldn't get to my mates'. That means updates for you guys! Well... I'm hoping to get a train tomorrow... but we'll see!**_


	69. Chapter 69

Nikki didn't know what to do. She had struggled through her day at school with her mind barely focused on the pupils in front of her. Hollie and Scout's fight was the main topic of conversation in the PRU, even after the weekend, and a few of the students, especially Barry Barry, were enjoying making comments. She lost her temper when the boy commented that he'd have to remember to ask Kevin whether Hollie's temper came out in other ways, punctuating his words with a meaningful wink and causing the teacher to scream at him to get to the Cooler. After he'd swaggered from the room, the rest of the pupils eyed her warily, sensing that she was not in the mood for any nonsense.

Once the bell had rung for the end of the day and the students had left, Nikki sat with her head in her hands staring blankly at the screen of her laptop in front of her on the desk. Tom had taken the Hollie and Josh home and was going to come back for her in a little while. She had a couple of things to sort out and he had a football match to attend, so she'd said she'd meet him afterwards. But the woman couldn't concentrate on anything except what was going on with her daughter. Hollie's defence of her made Nikki's heart swell with love and gratitude for the girl who, not that long ago, had been the one calling her a bitch and slapping her. After everything she'd been through, Hollie needed her friends around her. She didn't need to be falling out with them and getting into fights. That knowledge, and the knowledge that it was her fault, caused Nikki to question everything.

A quiet beep alerted the woman to a new email coming through on her computer. She glanced at the subject of the message and frowned. Her heart sank as she clicked on the link and it took her to an auction site. There was nothing Nikki could do except watch as her car and its contents was sold in front of her eyes. Hearing a noise in the corridor, she glanced over her shoulder just as Tom walked past the window.

"Nik?" He asked, seeing the expression on her face. Wordlessly she motioned towards the screen, leaning back in her chair and completely unable to think straight. "What the hell? We need to call the police… now!"

Sensing that she was in the same state of shock as her daughter had been on Thursday after going to the hospital, Tom took over. He phoned the police and informed them of the latest developments; telling them where to find the items on the auction site. Then he closed down Nikki's laptop and guided her to his car, stopping off for pizza on the way home. He wasn't in the mood to cook and he knew Nikki definitely wouldn't be.

The house was in silence when they got in. Confused, Tom shouted up the stairs to the teenagers as Nikki went to pour them both a large glass of wine. When there was no response, the man jogged up the stairs and knocked on his son's door. Going inside, he saw Josh lying on his bed watching something on his laptop with his headphones on. Tom signalled that it was time for dinner, before walking along the landing and knocking on Hollie's door. When, again, there was no answer, he pushed the door open and went inside. Frowning as he realised she wasn't there, he returned to Josh's room.

"Where's Hol?"

"Hol? In her room?"

Tom shook his head. "She's not there."

"Shit…"

Forcing himself to stay calm, the man glanced at his watch. "She's probably at Kevin's. Just… don't worry Nikki. She doesn't need it right now. Give her a ring and tell her I'll go and pick her up."

Josh nodded and picked up his mobile, hitting speed dial and holding the phone to his ear. "Hol? Where are you? What? Why… OK, Dad's gonna come and pick you up. You sure? She's fine… Alright, see you."

"Well, where is she?" Tom demanded impatiently.

"The library." He replied with a frown.

"The… what?"

Shrugging, the teenager glanced at his dad. "All I know is that she's at the library and she'll make her own way home straight away."

"No, tell her I'll come and get her."

"Dad… Hollie's not a little kid. If she's happy to be out on her own after everything that happened, then we've got to let her get on with it. Remember what I was like after I got ill… let Hollie make her own decisions."

"Let's just not tell Nikki she's on her own, alright?" Tom suggested, smiling.

x-x

As soon as Tom dropped her and Josh off and left to return to school for the football match, Hollie rushed upstairs to get changed. Pausing outside Josh's bedroom and hearing nothing, she pushed the door ajar and peeked inside. She saw him lying on his bed with his headphones on and smiled, pulling the door closed and heading downstairs. Outside, she pulled out her mobile and selected a number from her recent calls list.

After her fight with Scout, Hollie had barely spoken to any of their friends. Kevin had come round on Saturday afternoon, but none of the others really seemed to know what to say to her. Being in isolation on Friday and that day made things more difficult, but Hollie found she didn't really care. Now her secrets weren't so secret anymore, to her family at least, she wasn't inclined to spend too much time with her friends because it was more difficult to hide things now. She'd been suppressing memories before and that was harder now.

On Thursday night, after she had accepted her friend request on Facebook, Zoe had sent Hollie a message with her mobile number and saying that if she wanted to talk she was always there. On Friday night the teenager had taken her up on the offer. On Sunday Zoe had asked whether Hollie would be up for her visiting.

At first Hollie wasn't sure. She didn't know whether it was a step too far. It was all very well talking to Zoe, she was one of her closest friends, but she was still part of the past she'd much rather forget. But then, with almost no contact with her new friends, the girl had decided that yes, she did want to see Zoe.

That was why she'd sneaked out of the house and was currently on her way to the beach. Her Mum wouldn't approve and Hollie didn't want to hurt Nikki. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Hollie!"

She turned and saw a tall, skinny black girl running towards her along the street. Hollie beamed and launched herself towards Zoe, hugging her tightly.

"Zo! How are you? You look great!"

"Not looking so bad yourself, Ms Evans!"

"Actually it's Boston. That's my Mum's surname and after everything…"

Zoe nodded, linking their arms as they started strolling aimlessly. "Fair enough. You alright?"

"Fine. Been through worse." Hollie told her shortly, not wanting to talk about it again. "How's Jay?"

Her friend stopped walking abruptly. "Ah…"

"Ah?"

"That's the thing. It's not just me who came to Scotland for the week."

"Jay came too?" Hollie looked round for him, frowning and wondering why he hadn't made himself known before. "Where is he?"

"He's with Gav and Mitch."

The brunette's mouth opened and closed wordlessly as she processed Zoe's words. "Oh…"

"Look, I told them not to come, but they wouldn't listen."

"It's not your fault." Hollie told her with a sigh. "Since when have they ever listened to us?"

Before the other girl could reply the three men appeared. They each pulled Hollie into a bear hug, the teenager only comfortable in one of the embraces. She moved to stand between Jayden and Zoe; Mitch and Gavin a painful reminder of the past she was trying to forget. As the wind whipped around them, Gavin suggested they went to get something to drink and they trooped towards a café on the front. Hollie deliberately took them to a shop she knew none of Waterloo Road's pupils would go to in an attempt to avoid being spotted. She didn't want the news that she was with her old friends getting back to her mother before she thought of a way of telling her herself.

"So, Hols, it was Dean Wilks, eh?" Gavin asked, lounging back in his chair and resting an arm across the back of Zoe's.

"Yeah… argument with my Dad and Uncles gone wrong apparently."

"So what you doing up here in this shithole?"

Hollie snorted. "You're calling this a shithole? It's miles better than the Jasmine Allen."

"Anywhere's better than the Jasmine Allen, babe." Mitch reminded her with a grin.

"So, what you doing here? Still raising hell?" Gavin asked with a smirk.

She shook her head, clutching her mug tightly. "Nah, I'm a good girl now. Well… mainly."

"Mainly? That sounds interesting."

Pulling her mobile out of her pocket and glancing at the display, she answered the call and held it to her ear. "Hey, Josh. I'm at the library. Yeah, you heard me right! I just needed to get a book for my Geography essay, that's all… no! I'm fine I'll be back soon anyway. I'm capable of walking. Nothing's gonna happen to me between here and home… Of course. Is Mum OK? Good. I'll see you soon."

"Who was that?" Jayden asked curiously as she ended her call and pushed her mobile back into her pocket.

Hollie stood up. "My… step-brother." She said, not able to think of a better way of describing Josh to them quickly. "I've got to go."

"Want us to come with you?" Zoe asked.

She shook her head. "Better not… I'll text you tomorrow about meeting up, yeah?"

They nodded as the teenager headed out of the café and up the street. Hollie sighed as a group of kids from school passed on the other side of the road. They watched her, obviously gossiping as they stared. Holding her head high, the girl made her way home, her hands clenched into fists in her pockets.

* * *

**_A/N: As you probably guessed I managed to get a train to my friend's! Have in update anyway! :D_**

**_x_**


	70. Chapter 70

Isolation was mind-numbingly boring, but at least they hadn't thought to take Hollie's mobile off her. She sat in the classroom one eye on her phone and the other on the work she'd been set. Halfway through a page of maths questions, it vibrated and she snatched it up quickly.

'_Fancy skiving at lunch? I wanna go shopping, but the boys aren't up for it._'

Hollie smiled at Zoe's text and thought for a moment. She glanced up and saw that the corridor was completely empty, meaning she could just walk out now and there was no one to stop her. Knowing that Zoe and the others were around made Hollie feel like she was fifteen again.

'_I'll see… might be tricky. x_'

'_Do your best! They're driving me mental!_'

The rest of the morning dragged. Hollie had finished almost all of the work she'd been set, considering there was nothing to distract her. She sighed as the lunch bell rang and the sound of footsteps and voices in the corridor drew her out of the daydream she was currently in. Several students banged on the window, pointing at her and pulling faces. The teenager swore at them irritably and picked up her mobile.

'_I'll see you in fifteen. x_'

Shoving her things in her bag, she glanced up as the teacher who'd been sent to inform her that it was lunchtime – as if she hadn't already worked that one out – opened the classroom door. Hollie smiled weakly and left the room. Keeping her head down she made her way to the PRU, knowing that her mother would still be in there. Knocking on the door, the girl poked her head inside and smiled.

"Hey… I need to pop home and get something for the work Mrs McFall set me." Hollie told her guiltily.

Nikki looked up from whatever she was doing at her desk. "Oh… I'll go and get the car keys off Tom."

"No!" Her daughter said more quickly than she'd intended. When Nikki frowned in confusion, she smiled weakly and shrugged. "I've been stuck in that classroom all morning… I'd rather walk."

"I'll come with you. Just give me… oh! I've got to see Michael, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I–"

Hollie shook her head and smiled. "No, really Mum, it's fine. I'll be OK, I promise. Thank you for worrying, but I just want to get back to normal."

"If you're sure?" The woman didn't look particularly happy, but she didn't argue. Hollie crossed the classroom quickly and wrapped her arms around her mother, kissing the top of her head. "Be careful."

"I will. I promise."

With another kiss to the top of Nikki's head, Hollie turned and left the classroom quickly. She was sure her guilt was radiating off her in waves, but she took a deep breath and carried on walking hurriedly towards the main doors.

"Oi, Boston!" Barry Barry shouted after her as she almost jumped down the steps onto the concrete in front of the school.

"What?" She snapped, glaring at him.

"Having fun in isolation are you?"

She looked him up and down with distain. "It's better than having to look at you all day."

He looked as though he was about to reply when Scout appeared through the doors and glared at her. She, too, appeared to be about to say something, but Hollie caught sight of her friends at the gates and frowned. Turning on her heels, she headed quickly down the slope to meet them, nodding her head in the direction they needed to walk.

"They giving you hassle, babe?" Jay asked, glancing through the railings to where Barry and Scout were still watching them.

"Nothing I can't handle." She snapped in irritation.

"You still got that right hook, Hols?" Mitchell asked, smirking. When she looked confused, he nodded his head in the direction of the school. "The blonde had a black eye and I'm guessing you gave it to her."

Hollie shrugged, slightly smugly. "She called my Mum a bitch."

"Fair enough." Gavin told her with a grin, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Where we going then? Pub?"

It was agreed that the pub was the best place to go and the five of them headed around the corner. Gavin and Mitch went to the bar while the other three found a table, Hollie stuffing her tie into her bag as they did so. Taking a large gulp of the drink that was placed in front of her, she sighed and leant back in the booth.

"You alright?" Zoe asked quietly as the three males started a conversation that didn't involve them.

Nodding, the girl took another drink. "Yeah… just… someone nicked my Mum's car last week. The blonde at school? She was my best mate, but it looks like she was the one who nicked it."

"The one who called your Mum a bitch? What happened?"

"Yeah… I dunno really… she never really liked her that much, but since I got back Scout hates Mum." Hollie murmured thoughtfully. "I just asked if she knew anything about Mum's car getting nicked and she started calling her a cow and a bitch and generally being a knob. So I decked her. I'm lucky I wasn't suspended…"

"That's rough, her being your mate and that." Zoe sympathised. "At least you gave her a black eye, though."

Hollie grinned, finishing her drink and getting up to buy the next round. By the time she glanced at her watch again she realised that she had fifteen minutes to get back to school. The girl was seriously considering not bothering to go back, but then her mobile rang.

"Hi, Mum." She answered brightly. "What? No, no. I'm at the shop… yeah… stopped to get some chocolate. Right, OK. Yeah, see you."

"Checking up on you?" Gavin asked, sitting down and pushing yet another drink towards her.

"Yeah, well… she's a bit jumpy after everything." Hollie told him with a shrug. "I better go; I need to stop by the shop on the way."

"We'll come with you." Jayden told her firmly, downing his pint as fast as he could. The girl smiled and shook her head in amusement, gulping down her own drink and standing up. "Come on, then."

They made their way back to Waterloo Road, stopping at the shop so Hollie could buy chocolate on the way. They paused at the gates, glancing towards the building. There was an unmistakable look of distain on the faces of the three males and Zoe, none of whom saw the point in education. Hollie smiled and said goodbye, telling them she'd catch up with them later.

Hollie knew that they were still there as she walked through the main doors, catching sight of their reflections in the glass. Briefly, she turned and shot them a smile, seeing them start to wander aimlessly away.

"Alright?" She called, opening the door of her mother's classroom and going inside. She perched on the desk and held out the chocolate bar Nikki had requested when she'd phoned. "I'm back; safe and sound."

"I know I'm worrying, but–"

"Mum, it's fine." Hollie assured her quickly.

"So, did you get what you wanted?" Nikki asked, totally confusing her daughter who'd forgotten what she'd given as her reason for leaving school. "The Geography book, or whatever it was?"

"Oh! Yeah, it's in here." She said, motioning towards her bag.

Frowning, Nikki leant forwards and peered at the teenager. "Are you alright? You seem a bit… have you been drinking?"

"What?!" Hollie laughed. "No?"

Nikki didn't look entirely sure that she believed her, but she didn't press the matter. "Right, you'd better get back to the classroom. The bell's about to ring."

With a weak smile, the teenager stood up and turned to leave. Then she turned back and hugged her mother tightly. Nikki smiled and hugged her back, wrapping her arms around her daughter and pressing her cheek to the top of the girl's head.

* * *

_**A/N: Still up North... apparently there's meant to be more snow tomorrow :/**_

_**x**_


	71. Chapter 71

"Your Mum's a psycho!" Scout spat as she passed Hollie on the stairs the next day.

"D'you want another smack?" Hollie snapped back, glaring at her. She stopped and turned to face the blonde girl, folding her arms defensively.

"D'you know what she's been making me do all morning? She's made me mop the floor." When Hollie snorted with laughter, she narrowed her eyes. "It's not funny! I didn't nick her flamin' car!"

"Yeah? So why did you have her bag?"

"Like I told her, I bought it off some guy."

Rolling her eyes, Hollie turned away. She'd heard Scout lying plenty of times and knew when she was doing it. Scout was definitely lying about the bag and the brunette had no time for it. Hollie just knew that she had to get away from her before she did something she'd regret; something like shoving her down the stairs.

"That's right, walk away!" Scout shouted after her. Hollie stopped. Then she turned and scowled at the blonde. "She's gonna be in big trouble for what she's making me do. I could get her sacked."

"I swear to god if you don't shut your face–" Hollie threatened, raising her hand and jabbing her finger towards Scout furiously, advancing on her.

"What are you gonna do, Hollie?" Phoenix asked, jogging up the stairs towards them as he caught the end of her threat.

Scout, visibly shaken by the fury the brunette had turned on her, stepped backwards. "What the hell's happened to you?"

As she walked quickly down the stairs, Phoenix glared at Hollie. "Did they actually get the right Hollie back after you got kidnapped? Or did they give you some kind of personality transplant?"

"What are you talking about?" She snapped.

"Scout's right, you've changed."

Hollie scowled after them as he turned and followed Scout. Pushing her way through a crowd of younger students, she stormed up the stairs and slammed through the door of the girls' toilets. A couple of girls looked at her ferocious expression and then exchanged a look, leaving quickly. When she was alone, Hollie stared at her reflection in the mirror for a moment. With a muffled grunt of anger, she brought her fist up and punched the surface in front of her. Pain exploded through her hand as the glass shattered.

For a moment she just stared at the damage she'd caused. Then suddenly realisation hit her and she hastily rinsed her cut knuckles under the cold tap, wincing as the water stung. Wiping her hand on her jeans, she headed out of the room quickly, striding away without looking back.

"Ah! Hollie! Just the girl I was looking for." Mrs McFall called as Hollie hurried along the corridor. "I've just read your essay."

"Oh… right…"

"Brilliant, well done."

Hollie blinked in surprise. "Oh, thanks, Miss."

The teacher frowned slightly, taking in the expression on the teenager's face and the fact that she didn't seem as though she was entirely focused on their conversation. "Are you alright, Hollie?"

"Fine." The teenager replied quickly, shooting her a small smile. "Never better."

Without waiting for any more questions, Hollie continued along the corridor quickly. There were another ten minutes of lunch left and she didn't particularly want to head back to the classroom she was basically imprisoned in during lesson time. On the other hand, she wasn't in the mood to face all the stares and comments in the common room or canteen either.

It wasn't fair, Hollie thought as she pondered what to do. Everyone seemed to have taken Scout's side, without even giving her a second thought. She supposed it was because she'd been defending her mother, a teacher. Possibly, in their positions, she would have been the same. But she wasn't in their positions and someone had stolen her mother's car. Scout knew who that someone was, but wouldn't say. In Hollie's book, that made her a fair target.

"Hey, Zo…" She muttered into her mobile, glancing around as she leant against the corridor wall. "You know what I was saying about my Mum's car? Reckon you could do some digging and find anything out?"

"You're kidding, babe?" The other girl replied, sounding as though Hollie had just asked her to track down the gold at the end of a rainbow. "None of us have ever been to Scotland before, how are we supposed to do that?"

Hollie shrugged. "I'm sure you'll come up with something. This is really important."

"Well… what are you gonna do if we do find something out?"

"I dunno… I'll think about that when it happens."

Zoe sighed, but then asked for the details. In the deserted corridor, Hollie grinned and told her what she needed to know. She also listed off the things that had been in the car that, if Scout was telling the truth, someone was selling. Promising they'd see what they could find out, Zoe said goodbye and Hollie pocketed her mobile. She headed off to the isolation classroom with a smile on her face.

x-x

"Good day?" Tom asked, looking around at his family as they sat around the kitchen table.

Hollie blinked at him, her head resting on one hand as she stabbed viciously at her dinner with her fork. Nikki barely registered that he'd spoken; pushing her pasta round the plate and not looking as though she was intending to eat most of it. Josh glanced up, looking like a rabbit caught in headlights, his overladen fork hovering between his plate and his mouth.

"Mmmf…" He muttered, shovelling his food in.

"In English, mate?" Tom chuckled.

"Yeah, it was alright."

What about you, Hollie? How's isolation treating you? Getting lots done?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I managed to get all the set work done and the homework, so that's good."

"Nice one, kid." He beamed at her, turning to Nikki dubiously. "Nik?"

"Hmm? Oh… it was alright. The usual really; Barry Barry unable to keep his mouth shut, Rhiannon missing the point and the rest of them totally uninterested in anything useful."

With everyone engaged in their own thoughts the meal passed in near silence. Towards the end, Tom and Josh started up a conversation about the band Josh was intending to go and see on Friday night, but neither Nikki nor Hollie paid any attention. Neither of them ate much of their dinner either, both scraping a lot into the food waste bin before loading their plates into the dishwasher.

Upstairs in her room, Hollie threw herself on her bed, wincing as she realised that her wounds hadn't healed well enough to do that yet. She sat up gingerly and pulled up the hem of her t-shirt, examining the stitches on her stomach. They were finally almost healed and Hollie was hoping that at her next hospital appointment they would take them out. Sliding off the bed, she pulled her top off so that she could look at her shoulder in the mirror, frowning as she realised that the wound there wasn't quite as healed. She assumed that movement of any sort was hampering it. It didn't help that she was right-handed so that shoulder was almost constantly in use.

Her mobile rang on the other side of the room and she leapt towards it, barely glancing at the display before answering it. "Hello?"

"Hol, it's Gav."

"Hi… have you found anything?"

"Possibly… can you meet me?"

She sighed and glanced at the clock by her bed. "Maybe... when and where?"

"I'm outside your house now." He informed her with a chuckle.

Hollie's mouth fell open. "What?"

She yanked open her bedroom door and ran down the landing, leaning against the wall and peering out of the window. As he'd claimed, Gavin was standing on the pavement outside the house underneath the streetlight. Panicking that Tom or her mother would glance out of the window and spot him, Hollie crept down the stairs. She glanced through the living room door and spotted the back of her Mum and Tom's heads very close together on the sofa and a film on the television. Pulling the door closed carefully, she tiptoed to the front door and slipped outside, pulling it closed behind her.

"What are you… how did you find out where I live?" She demanded warily, glancing towards the living room window.

"Ways and means, Hol." He smirked at her. "Don't you wanna know what we've found."

"Course I do."

Gavin held something out and Hollie looked at it carefully. It was a blue zip-up hoody and she knew at once that it belonged to Josh. Thinking about it, she was sure that it had been in her mother's car the morning before it had been stolen, meaning that whoever had taken the car would have had the jacket.

"Well? Recognise it?"

Hollie nodded. "Yeah; it's Josh's. Where did you get it?"

"Some kid was trying to flog it in the pub."

"What kid?"

Gavin shrugged. "I dunno… just a kid. Probably about your age."

"So that's all you've got?" She asked, folding her arms. She had been hoping that he would be able to tell her one way or another whether Scout had anything to do with it.

"At the moment." He admitted. "Listen, Hol… we've missed you around the Estate. People keep asking where you've got to. If you ever come back to London and need some cash…"

He reached out and tugged gently on a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Hollie stared at him for a moment before taking a step back and shaking her head. "I'm alright, thanks."

"The offer's there."

"Thanks, but no thanks. You'd better go before someone sees you. My Mum knows… well, everything."

"Really?"

"Yeah… so does my Auntie and she's a copper, so if Mum sees you…"

"I think I might have met your Auntie." Gavin said with a sudden smile of understanding. "Tall, brunette, gobby?"

"That's Jo." Hollie agreed. "So it's just best that no one sees you with me, alright? 'Cos if Mum thinks you're trying to get me working for you again she ain't gonna listen to explanations and she'll be on the phone to Jo before I can stop her."

"Understood."

"I'm really grateful to you for what you're doing." She told him, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks."

"You're one of us, Hol. We look after our own, remember?" He told her, before winking and heading off down the street.


	72. Chapter 72

Nikki had asked her daughter what she'd done to her hand, but Hollie had just told her she'd caught it on a wall and refused to say any more on the matter. The woman hadn't been convinced by her story but, if she connected it to the broken mirror in the girls' toilets, she didn't say anything. Either way no one suspected her of causing the damage and the rest of the week passed relatively quietly.

There were a couple of altercations between Hollie and Scout in the corridors, mainly short-lived as a teacher appeared or one or other was pulled away by their friends. Only Imogen, Connor, Kevin and Josh were really on Hollie's side. Everyone else seemed to be backing Scout and the whispers were still following the brunette around.

Hollie, trying to distract herself from what was going on, had gone round to Kevin's at the weekend to see what Mr Chalk's flat was like. It was more modern than she'd expected and very clean and tidy for a male-dominated flat. Kevin seemed a little defensive about the fact he was being fostered by the maths teacher with most people, but after Hollie pointed out who she lived with he relaxed slightly. With her boyfriend and his new foster-father, the girl could almost forget about everything else that was going on.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked anxiously as Hollie squirmed away from him. They'd been curled up on the sofa watching a film and his hand had rested over the scar on her stomach. "You alright?"

"Yeah, fine…" She muttered uneasily, linking their fingers so that she could move his hand without raising his suspicions.

"Hollie?"

"Kev, leave it." She snapped, moving away from him and hugging her knees to her chest.

He shook his head, looking bemused by her reaction. "No! I can't… something's obviously wrong."

She closed her eyes and pulled up the bottom of her top wordlessly. There was a quiet inhalation of breath from Kevin's direction before Hollie felt cool fingers brushing gently across the stitches. Refusing to open her eyes and look at him, the girl waited for her boyfriend to say something.

"What happened?" He asked finally, not removing his hand from her stomach.

"Just before they found us we were in a warehouse. I climbed up on a ledge to look out of the window and it broke. A shard of wood stabbed into my stomach." She explained calmly. It was as though she was just telling him about something she'd seen on television. "But that's not…"

Before she lost her nerve, Hollie pulled her top over her head so that he could get a proper view of the stitches on her shoulder. Kevin's eyes almost popped out of his head as he looked at the almost circular mark, reaching out to touch it. He hesitated, as though wondering whether it would be rude, but she smiled weakly and he ran his finger over the stitches.

"What's this?"

"I got shot." She told him. After explaining how it had happened, she smiled again. "I had to have an operation and I need physio to make sure the mobility doesn't go. Some of the nerves were damaged by the bullet."

"Is that why you were bleeding after your fight with Scout?" Kevin asked, suddenly understanding.

She nodded. "Yeah… the stitches popped. I had to go and get stitched up again."

Kevin was about to say something else when the living room door opened and Mr Chalk appeared. At once the boy turned and tried to shield Hollie from the Maths teacher's view, both teenagers going bright red. As he realised what Kevin was hiding from him, Mr Chalk blushed too, turning away in a fluster.

"Er… I don't think… I'm very happy for you to be here, Hollie, but… in communal areas…"

"Oh, god, no!" Hollie gasped, realising what he thought had been happening. "Sir… we wouldn't…"

"It's not like that!" Kevin agreed. "Hollie was just…"

"I was showing him… oh god…" She took a deep breath. "When I was missing I got shot. I haven't told anyone 'til now and I was just showing Kevin the scar." The girl explained, covering herself with her top but leaving her shoulder exposed. "Look, Sir…"

Very reluctantly the man turned as though he thought she was tricking him. As he realised that she really was showing him her wound, Mr Chalk winced. "That looks… I was going to say painful, but obviously…"

He turned away while Hollie pulled her top on quickly, clearing his throat and offering to put the kettle on. The girl felt as though her entire head was on fire as the embarrassment surged through her. She couldn't believe that her Maths teacher had walked in on her topless, or that she'd shown him the scars.

After a very awkward cup of tea, Hollie made her excuses and escaped from the flat. Kevin offered to walk her home, probably to get away from Mr Chalk for a while, but she refused. As soon as she was outside, she pulled out her mobile and phoned Zoe, hoping for some good news.

x-x

"You're kidding?" Nikki asked, stifling her laughter later that afternoon as Hollie recounted the incident that had occurred in the flat.

"No I'm bloody not!" Her daughter groaned, covering her face with her hands. "How am I gonna look him in the eye?"

"And he thought you were–"

"YES!"

Her mother burst out laughing, the first time she'd done so in a long time. Hollie couldn't help giggling as well, swatting at her and stretching her leg to prod Nikki in the ribs with her foot. Her embarrassment evaporated at the sight of the woman laughing so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks as she struggled to breathe.

The living room door opened and Tom poked his head inside, clearly confused as to the source of the sound. When he saw the two women laughing, he smiled. Moving into the room and dropping into the armchair, he watched them with a bemused grin on his face, waiting until they calmed down enough to let him in on the joke. It took a couple of minutes because, every time one of them stopped laughing, they met the eye of the other and dissolved into giggles again.

"Chalky walked in on Hollie and Kevin." Nikki choked out at last, earning herself another prod in the ribs as she only told her boyfriend half the story.

"We weren't doing anything!" The teenager added at once, seeing the slightly protective look crossing Tom's face. "I was just showing Kev my scars. I wanted the sofa to swallow me up, though. It was mortifying!"

"So Chalky saw you…"

"Topless, yeah." Hollie agreed, covering her face again as Nikki burst out laughing. "It's not funny!"

"That's…" Tom started, trying to mould his face into a sympathetic, serious look. He didn't get any further as the smile he was trying to avoid showing cracked his face and he started laughing.

The teenager shook her head and sighed. "As if things couldn't get any worse…"

"It's not that bad." Nikki reminded her at once, suddenly serious as she realised her daughter was no longer laughing. She through a cushion across the room at Tom and he nodded.

"Chalky's probably more embarrassed than you are, love."

"I'm not sure that's possible."

After a couple of moments Nikki glanced at her daughter. "I'd have thought Kevin would have seen your scars before."

Realising what she was getting at, Hollie frowned slightly. "Why's that then?"

"Well…" Suddenly the woman wasn't sure she wanted to get into this conversation; especially not with Tom in the room. "Well… you and Kevin have been together for a while and…"

"And I'm easy?" The girl finished her mother's sentence in the way she thought she was meaning it to go. Nikki's mouth dropped open and she immediately assured Hollie that that hadn't been what she meant. "Just because I got paid for it you think I have no self-respect or control?"

"No, Hols, that's not what–"

"We've had sex, but not since I came back. I couldn't bring myself to let him see what had happened to me. Kevin said he understood… I gave him some crap excuse about needing to get over the abduction. He never pushed it. He's too good for me; too sweet. He deserves better than an ex-hooker for a girlfriend. You deserve better than an ex-hooker as a daughter."

"Don't be ridiculous, Hollie." Tom told her at once, seeing that Nikki was doing her best not to burst into tears. He moved to crouch in front of the teenager. "Your Mum doesn't care what you did, apart from the fact that there was no one to help you or stop it. There's no reason Kevin, or anyone, needs to know. And if he did know… I doubt he'd hold it against you."

At his words and soft, reassuring tone, the teenager threw herself into his arms. She sobbed into his chest as Tom manoeuvred himself onto the sofa between the two women, holding both tightly.

* * *

_**A/N: Heya! :) Firstly, thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! You're lovely people!**_

_**Secondly, I just wanted to say that I'm not ignoring the people who ask for more Nikki/Hollie or Hollie/Kevin in the next chapter in their reviews or PMs. It's just that I'm always a couple of chapters ahead when I update. For instance, as I'm updating this chapter I'm working on chapter 81. It helps me keeping it flow and lets me go back and edit chapters before I publish them! So I'm DEFINITELY not ignoring your suggestions! :D**_

_**x**_


	73. Chapter 73

_**A/N: I'm putting a language warning on this chapter, just in case. So… be warned!**_

* * *

Maths lessons with Mr Chalk were excruciating for the first few days. Neither he nor Hollie could look at each other without going red and wishing they were somewhere else. Kevin, after the initial embarrassment, was finding the situation mildly amusing; especially his girlfriend's reaction to his foster father.

On Tuesday, Hollie was at home alone. Nikki and Tom were stuck in a staff meeting and Josh was at a mate's house. Bored, the girl picked up her mobile and phoned Zoe, arranging to meet her at the pub. Hollie decided she had a couple of hours before anyone was home and didn't feel like sitting around on her own.

"Aww… you changed out of your uniform!" Mitchell told her with a smirk. "I bet you look hot in it."

"Get lost!" She muttered, shoving him in the shoulder. "Just get me a drink!"

He laughed and leant on the bar, buying a round and carrying them over to the table they had settled themselves at. After a couple of drinks, the volume increased significantly and the atmosphere at the table became rowdy. The barman shouted a warning, but Mitchell swore loudly in response and the man seemed to think leaving them alone was the right way to go. Hollie giggled at his response, finishing her drink quickly as Gavin rose to buy the next round.

"Who's that?" Mitchell asked, jabbing his finger at a photo on Hollie's mobile. "She's fit."

"Ehh?" The girl squinted at the face he was showing her, before bursting out laughing. "That's my Mum, you knob!"

"Yeah? I would."

Hollie glared at him, snatching her mobile back. "Don't even bloody think about it."

He laughed, unperturbed by her tone. "Imagine that… having the daughter and then the mother!"

"I swear to god, Mitch–"

"You still got that temper then, babe?" He asked. His refusal to take her seriously was irritating the girl even more. "You should get counselling for that."

Catching the end of the conversation as he returned with the drinks, Gav smacked the younger man round the head. "Leave it out, dickhead. If anyone needs anger management around here it's you."

As he handed Hollie her drink, he winked and she sent him a weak smile. For a couple of moments there was a slightly uncomfortable silence where Mitchell and Gavin glared at each other. Then Jayden started telling Hollie about one of the boys from the Estate and the atmosphere returned to how it had been before Mitchell made comments about Nikki.

Glancing at the time, the girl had a shock. "Shit! I need to get back…" She stood, grabbing her jacket and phone. "I'll text you!"

As she rushed out of the pub, Hollie passed a man, almost bumping straight into him in her haste to leave. He stared after her, before walking to the bar and ordering a pint. At his arrival, Gavin glanced up.

"Hang on a sec…" He muttered to the others, climbing to his feet and moving to stand beside the man at the bar. "Duncan Lambett, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Gav!" The man grinned, shaking his hand before pulling him into a hug. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, it's been a while."

Duncan nodded towards the door. "Was that Hollie Evans?"

"She goes by Hollie Boston now." Gavin replied with a shrug, motioning to the barmaid for another round of drinks. "She came up here to find her Mum or some crap... goes to that school… Waterloo Road."

"I'm guessing she don't turn tricks no more if she's got family?"

"Apparently not. I'm working on it, though."

Duncan shrugged. "If she changes her mind..."

"I'll let you know." Gavin assured him with a smirk.

"Yeah... Well, I'm opening a pole dancing club in town. I reckon she could earn a bit if she gave it a go."

Gavin tilted his head to one side as he thought about what he'd heard. "There would be commission, I assume? If I was to get her to agree, I mean?"

"Of course. Say... twenty per cent of her wage would go directly to you?"

"Forty?"

"Why not!" Duncan laughed and shook Gavin's hand. "Just get her to come round and we'll sort it."

"I will do… Come and sit with us. You know Mitch and Jay, right?"

x-x

Hollie had just walked through the front door and hung up her coat when her mobile rang. Nikki informed her that she and Tom were heading home, picking up Josh and a takeaway on their way. The girl nodded and told them she'd set the table, before going into the kitchen and pouring herself a large glass of water. Gulping it down, in an attempt to combat the effects of the many vodkas she'd drunk, she refilled the glass and started laying the table ready for when the others arrived.

She was still unsteady when the front door opened and the trio trooped into the kitchen, bustling around and dishing up the Chinese. Nikki watched her daughter suspiciously as Hollie dropped into her chair, gulping her water quickly.

"Good day?" She asked, licking sauce of her finger as she transferred her meal to a plate.

"Mmm… as good as any." Hollie replied. "You?"

Nikki nodded. "Not too bad. A couple of moments, but nothing I can't handle." She smiled as she placed the girl's food on the table. "So, did you come straight home, or…?"

"Yeah…" Not meeting her mother's eye, the teenager dug her fork into her dinner. She didn't want to lie, but the alternative wasn't really an option as far as she was concerned.

"Right…"

The conversation was changed abruptly as Tom and Josh joined them and started discussing a television show they wanted to watch that evening. Hollie steadily ate her dinner, avoiding meeting her mother's eyes in case she realised that she had lied or, worse, that she wasn't exactly sober.


	74. Chapter 74

The next morning Hollie ventured into the common room, somewhere she'd been avoiding most of the time, to hand Connor a birthday card. He smiled and gave her a quick hug of thanks before asking whether she was coming to his gathering later. Hollie smiled and pointed out that she probably wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. She gave his arm a squeeze before turning to head out of the room.

"Wait up!" Jade called after her. Immediately Hollie tensed as she and Rhiannon approached. They were both much closer to Scout than her and both, especially the red-head, had made it clear where their loyalties lay. "We've hardly seen you in ages."

"Yeah… I've been keeping a low profile."

They exchanged a look. Then the pregnant girl smiled. "Look… let's forget about what happened, yeah?"

Hollie nodded and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Together they walked slowly along the corridor chatting. Dynasty was leaning against the wall as they reached the History classroom where their first lesson of the day was being held. Hollie spotted Imogen a little further along in the queue, but as she smiled, her friend looked away quickly.

"Hey… you know what you said earlier?" Rhiannon asked the blonde in a low voice as they joined her. "_Who's paying for it?_"

"_I've got a benefactor._" Dynasty told her, glancing at Hollie, who had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. "_Paying it back, though, once I'm working._"

"_How much?_"

"_Three grand._"

"For what?" Hollie asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"New boobs." Rhiannon informed her bluntly.

Jade shook her head. "_You're not gonna cover all that stacking shelves._"

"_What's your Mum think about it?_"

"_She's cool with it._" Dynasty replied casually, shrugging as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"_So what are you gonna do when you have kids?_" Jade asked, as though she couldn't believe the blonde hadn't considered that. "_You know? Breastfeeding and that?_"

"_Kids? You heard of condoms?_" She laughed and pointed at Jade's stomach. "_Oh, no, you haven't, have you?_"

Since returning to Waterloo Road, after admitting everything to Jo, Hollie had barely been able to look at the bump her friend was unable to hide under her shirt. The guilt and pain and hollowness that had descended on her after she'd left the abortion clinic had returned and was almost painful whenever she was around Jade and heard the girl's excited chatter. At Dynasty's words, she scowled and opened her mouth to say something.

Luckily for her, Mrs McFall appeared at that moment and stopped her getting herself into trouble. The teacher apologised for her lateness and they turned to follow her into the classroom.

"_What are you two ladies doing there?_" A familiar voice shouted along the corridor. Jade and Rhiannon sighed but, meeting Hollie's eyes, said nothing as they turned and headed towards Nikki. "_Come on… quickly!_"

Hollie walked slowly towards the classroom. She paused beside Imogen who had made no attempt to enter the room. "You alright?"

"Fine." The girl replied bluntly, glancing up as Connor passed them and disappeared through the door.

"Oh… shit… it was your appointment this morning, wasn't it?" Hollie suddenly remembered, feeling terrible for forgetting. "How did it go?"

"Crap." Imogen told her, stalking into the classroom.

Sighing, Hollie followed her inside, vowing to think less about herself and more about her friend. At the moment, Imogen felt like the only friend she had at school and if she wasn't careful she was going to end up losing her, too. She settled herself at the table beside Connor and Kevin's, next to Imogen, and listened as Mrs McFall started talking about the open evening that night. Hollie wasn't bothered about showing prospective parents and students around; if she had her way she wouldn't be going. But, as the daughter of the Head of the PRU and being practically Tom's step-daughter – as far as everyone was concerned – she didn't seem to have much choice in the matter.

"Im… I'm really sorry I forgot about your appointment." She whispered as the teacher started talking about the Suffragette movement.

"It's alright, why would you remember?"

Turning slightly to frown at her, Hollie shook her head. "I should have. You're pretty much my only friend around here and I've been rubbish… I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Imogen shrugged and turned her attention back to the lesson as Mrs McFall asked a question about who was involved in the movement that led to votes for women. "_Pankhurst._"

"_Again please?_"

"_Emmeline Pankhurst; she was a suffragette._"

A shrill 'ooohhhh!' came from Dynasty's direction and both girls turned to glare at her as the rest of the class laughed softly at her response to Imogen's answer. Mrs McFall cleared her throat and pulled their attention back to her. The lesson continued for a while, until the blonde made several comments about women's rights that really riled Imogen. Hollie guessed that her friend was wound up anyway, but she completely lost her temper and lashed out at Dynasty. As Hollie leapt forward to help Connor pull her away, she muttered furiously in Imogen's ear, asking her what she was playing at.

As Mrs McFall carted the two girls off to Mr Byrne's office, Jack grinned at Hollie. "She been taking lessons off you or something?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped, irritated.

"Well, first you attack Scout and then Imogen attacked Dynasty? Have you got some sort of competition going on?"

"You wanna come over here and say that?" Hollie asked, standing up and pushing her chair back with a screech as the legs scraped on the floor.

"No he doesn't." Mrs Diamond informed her, poking her head around the door at precisely the right moment. "Now sit down or I'll send you to the Cooler. Where's your teacher?"

"Mrs McFall's taken Imogen and Dynasty to Mr Byrne's office, Miss." Connor informed her quickly.

Sian frowned. "Why?"

"Imogen attacked Dynasty." Jack said, almost gleefully. "She proper went for her."

"Is there something in the water?" The Deputy Head muttered to herself. "First Hollie and now Imogen…" She shook her head and raised her voice. "Right, get on with your work in silence until Mrs McFall comes back. I don't want to hear a word from any of you."

As soon as the bell rang for the end of the maths lesson before lunch, Hollie stuffed her things into her bag and shot out of the classroom. She made her way towards the Cooler, determined to catch Imogen and speak to her properly. Grasping her friend's arm as she emerged from the room, later than everyone else, Hollie propelled her into an empty classroom.

"What?" Imogen snapped. "If you're gonna lecture me about going for Dynasty then I don't wanna hear it. It's not as though you can tell me not to lose my temper."

"I weren't gonna." Hollie assured her gently. "I wanted to know about your appointment this morning."

For a moment she thought her friend was going to push her out of the way and storm off. But then she sighed and perched on a desk. "They won't operate."

"Why not?"

"He said they'd only do it if the scar was affecting the muscles and movement in my neck."

Hollie frowned. "That's crap! They must to operations like that all the time for cosmetic reasons? It's affecting your self-esteem… surely that's a factor?"

"I dunno!" Imogen muttered in exasperation. "They'll review it in time, but they won't do anything."

"I'm really sorry…" Sighing, Hollie pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring her friend's attempts to push her away. After a couple of moments, Imogen gave in. She held on tightly, giving into tears of frustration and despair. When she calmed down slightly, Hollie pulled away. "I know this isn't really the same, but… I want to show you something."

Imogen looked a little scared as the girl started unbuttoning her shirt, her alarm receding slightly as she realised that her friend had a top on underneath. Taking a breath, Hollie slid the fabric off her damaged shoulder and allowed Imogen to take a good look at her scarring. Then she raised the hem of her vest top to reveal the jagged marks across her stomach. After a couple of minutes, she pulled her shirt roughly back into position and did up the buttons, not meeting her friend's eyes.

"What… what happened?" Imogen asked quietly. "You didn't have that before. What's it from?"

"My shoulder… I got shot…. when I was abducted. My stomach got ripped on a piece of wood just before they found us…"

The girl's mouth dropped open. "Hol…?"

"I'm fine; I had an operation and I need physio to stop it seizing up, but I'm fine." She told her quickly. "But… I just wanted you to see that I know a little bit of what you're going through. I know it's not the same… I can hide my scars and you can't. But I understand."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you all for reading!**_

_**HUGE thanks (and optional hugs) to *takes deep breath* **_**Iceinherheart****, elliesimpson_,_ ****laural87**_**, **_**Anastasia Dove**_**, **_**LucyMaxine**_**, **_**Ordinarycasgirl**_**, **_**PondGirl11**_** and '**_**Guest'**_** (staying anonymous... fair enough :P) for your reviews! :D**_

_**x**_


	75. Chapter 75

Hollie and Imogen were heading to the canteen to get some lunch, both feeling much calmer now they had shared their secrets, when Hollie's mobile started ringing. Glancing at the name on the screen, she told her friend she'd catch her up before answering the call and darting into an empty classroom.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked in a low voice.

"I've got a proposition for you." Gavin told her.

Frowning, the girl perched on a table. "What d'you mean?"

"How would you like to earn a few quid?"

"I've already told you I'm not interested. I don't do that anymore."

He chuckled. "Nah, this is something else. Totally different, I promise."

"What is it?" She demanded suspiciously.

"Meet me at that pub we went to yesterday at four and I'll explain everything." He told her. Without waiting for an answer, Gavin hung up.

Hollie stared at her blank phone for a moment before pushing it back into her pocket. She was torn whether to meet him or not. The bigger part of her – the sensible part – was screaming at her to stay away. The other part, however, was telling her to go. She had a horrible feeling that that part, the part that had been growing stronger since she'd been back in contact with him and the others, might win the argument.

Heading in search of Imogen, she put the decision to the back of her mind. She passed Scout in the corridor, the blonde bashing into her hard and sending her a filthy look. Hollie glared after her, before spotting her mother and Tom on the stairs. She headed towards them, straining to hear their conversation.

"_Is this still going on?_"

"_Same hostile attitude we've come to know and love, yeah._" Nikki agreed with a sigh.

Tom glanced in the direction Scout had stormed off in. "_D'you mind if I sit in this afternoon; take a look for myself?_"

"_No, I'd be delighted._" The woman agreed. She spotted her daughter and smiled. "Hey, love, you alright?"

Stopping in front of them, Hollie nodded. "Yeah, fine. Have you heard about Imogen?"

"What about her?" Tom asked.

"She attacked Dynasty Barry in History." The teenager told them. "And Dynasty is getting a boob job."

"You're kidding?" Nikki raised an eyebrow. "Well nothing would surprise me about that family."

Tom shook his head. "I want to grab a coffee before my meeting with Sian… I'll see you later."

As he made his way through the crowds of teenagers blocking the corridor, Hollie watched him. Then she turned to her mother. "You and Tom… you're OK, aren't you?"

Nikki laughed, frowning in confusion. "Of course, why?"

"No reason… see you later, Mum."

Walking away, Hollie tracked Imogen down in the canteen. They grabbed a quick lunch and the Scottish girl told her friend about spotting Dynasty practising a pole dancing routine in the hall. The teenager raised an eyebrow as her friend told her about the audition Dynasty was going for after school.

As the bell rang for the end of lunch they separated; Imogen heading to the Cooler and Hollie escaping to the library for her free lesson. She spent more time considering whether to meet Gavin after school, than getting on with the History essay they'd been set. She frowned at the paper in front of her, tapping the table with her pen until the librarian came to tell her to stop.

Half way through the lesson, her mobile rang. Throwing her things into her bag as the librarian shot her a dirty look, Hollie answered the call as she left the library. She listened to Zoe's words with a frown and arranged to meet her at the school gates. She rushed through the school, passing an irate Lorraine and a nervous Sonya as she reached the entrance. They didn't spare her a second look as she slammed through the doors and headed down the slope to meet her friend.

"Zo? What's wrong?" She demanded as soon as the girl arrived.

"Hols... There's something I need to tell you." Zoe muttered uncomfortably. "I dunno how to say it…"

Her friend glanced sideways, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Yeah? What is it?"

"When... when Gav heard that me and Jay were coming to see you he decided that he could use it as an excuse to come and try and get you back on the game."

"What?"

Zoe sighed and shook her head. "I tried to talk him out of it... I said you'd made a fresh start; that you wouldn't be interested. But he wouldn't listen." She paused for a moment, slumping against one of the brick pillars that flanked the entrance to the school. "D'you remember Duncan Lambett?"

"How could I forget him?" Hollie asked bitterly, leaning against the brickwork beside her. "I saw him at least once a week for months."

"Well he's up here now and he's opening a club in town; Pole Stars or something. Him and Gav have done a deal... for you."

"He don't own me!"

"Once a whore, always a whore, babe."

Hollie laughed mirthlessly. "You believe that?"

Zoe shrugged. "If I wanna eat, I do."

"Well I don't!" Her friend snapped. "Zo... you have to get away! You can't let him control you. You're worth more than that."

"It's alright for you; you've got a family that want you. What have I got? If I leave Gavin I'll be on the streets."

"Come and stay with me."

"What?" Zoe looked genuinely confused by the suggestion.

"I'll sort it with my par- my Mum and Tom." Hollie told her. She had almost referred to them as her parents and she wasn't entirely sure why she'd corrected herself. "If I explain… it'll be fine."

Shaking her head, Zoe pushed herself away from the pillar and stood up straight. "You really think they're going to take in a prostitute that they've never met before? Are you mental?"

"They know about me, Zo. They accepted it and we're trying to forget it."

"It's different; you're family."

"So what? You're as good as family to me… you were the only one that looked out for me back then." Sensing that her friend's resolve was weakening, Hollie smiled. "Look… leave it with me. I'll speak to them and ring you later. Go and pack your stuff and wait. Don't let them know what we're planning… we can tell them you've gone back to London so they don't try and stop you."

"Will it work?" Zoe asked in a small voice, looking terrified. "Gavin'll kill me…"

"He won't, babe… I won't let him."

She had just pulled her friend into a tight, reassuring hug, when the sound of Mr Budgen shouting her name made her jump. Repeating the plan and urging Zoe to try and act normally, Hollie watched her walk away before turning to face the teacher.

"And what, Miss Boston, do you think you are doing out here when you should be in an English lesson with Mrs Mulgrew?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Is it last period already?" She asked in surprise. "Sorry, Sir, I didn't realise the time."

Moving past him, she headed back into school and into her lesson. The teacher nodded as she apologised for being late, returning to what she was saying with barely a pause. Hollie barely paid any attention to the lesson, thinking about how she was going to convince her Mum and Tom to let Zoe stay.

When the bell rang, she rushed upstairs to the PRU and waited for the students to leave. She ignored the looks Barry and Kacey sent her, smiled at Jade and Rhiannon and glared at Scout, who sent her an almost identical look in return. When she was sure there were no more pupils in the room, she pushed the door open.

"_I'm sorry, but she is undermining me every step of the way ever since she nicked my car!_" Nikki was telling Tom heatedly when the teenager entered the classroom.

"_You know there is nothing to say she had anything to do with that, Nikki, or Lorraine's._" Tom reminded her firmly. "_You're losing perspective._"

Neither teacher had noticed Hollie standing beside the door. The woman's voice rose as she scowled at her boyfriend. "_D'you know what? Michael got me in to run the PRU my way and if you don't like it, then go and speak to him._"

"_Good idea!_" Tom snapped. As he turned to leave, they both spotted the girl watching them. "Hollie…"

"What's going on?"

"Nothing!" They replied together.

Nikki turned away, collecting books from the tables. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to ask–"

"Well can it wait? I really… I haven't got time for a drama at the moment."

Her daughter glared at her. "Whatever, I'll sort it myself."

Slamming the door behind her and stamping down the stairs, Hollie pulled out her mobile, dialling Zoe's number. She held the phone to her ear she smiled. "We're on, babe. Tomorrow, yeah? Remember… not a word."


	76. Chapter 76

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Michael Byrne._" The Headmaster said that evening as the hall filled up with prospective parents and students. Next to Imogen at the front of the room, Hollie exhaled sharply, wishing she was somewhere else. "_Welcome. Now, I'm not going to make a long speech, so don't worry. Just to say that our aim here is to help the students know their own minds, be more confident in who they are in the hopes that when they leave us they can go on and lead more happy and productive lives._" Hollie spotted her Mum and Tom at the back of the room, barely looking at each other and frowned, knowing that there was more to the argument she'd interrupted than they had let on. "_Now, we have some of our year twelve and thirteen students with us for you to talk to; feel free to ask them any questions you might have. I hope you enjoy your visit and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you._"

As a ripple of applause broke out, Hollie almost leapt off the staging and made her way through the crowd of people to where Nikki and Tom were standing. In the brief moment she was stopped by Mrs McFall and asked whether she would help with the tours, they both disappeared. She swore under her breath, earning herself a stern glare from the History teacher. Sighing, Hollie headed off to greet a group of people ready for a tour of the school.

She had completed her third tour when she saw something that made her heart stop. Her mother was standing near the front of the hall talking to someone very familiar to the teenager. She crossed the room in a moment, standing beside her Mum and glaring at the young man who was smirking at her.

"Ahh… and this is my daughter, Hollie. She's in year twelve." Nikki said, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Alright, Hollie?" Mitchell asked, smirking broadly at the girl's discomfort. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah… Mum have you got a second? About… earlier…"

Nikki furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to work out what the teenager was talking about. Then she smiled. "Oh, that! That was nothing."

"No, but Mum–"

"We'll talk about it when we get home, alright?" The woman said firmly. Then she turned back to Mitchell. "So, you mentioned wanting to do some resits?"

"Yeah… I left school a couple of years back, but I wanted to try and get some qualifications, you know?" He told her. Hollie scowled at his words, knowing that he had absolutely no interest in taking his exams again.

"Well I'm sure we can arrange something." Nikki assured him. "Have a word with Mr Bryne, the Head. I'm sure he'll be able to give you more information."

Mitchell grinned. "That's great…" He glanced at Hollie and she scowled even more. "Listen, d'you fancy going for a drink sometime, Nikki?"

She looked slightly taken aback. "Sorry?"

"You know, a date?"

"Mum!" Hollie couldn't help herself speaking, furious that Mitchell was hitting on her mother, especially in front of her.

Chuckling softly, Nikki shook her head. "I'm flattered and thank you, but I have a partner."

"I won't tell if you don't." He replied with a wink.

"Thanks for the offer, but if you're serious about resitting your exams then it wouldn't be appropriate." She told him firmly. "Hollie, can you take Mitchell over to speak to Mr Byrne, please?"

Smiling weakly, the girl nodded before scowling at the man and stalking away. He trailed after her, glancing over his shoulder before reaching out and touching her arm. Hollie shrugged him off angrily.

"What the hell are you playing at?" She demanded in a low hiss. "What are you doing here?"

"We thought we'd come and see the school that straightened you out."

"We?" Her heart almost stopped. "Oh, god, please don't tell me that the others are here somewhere?"

"Yeah… Jay and Zoe were winding up some kid about chess club the last time I saw them and Gav was chatting to some pretty Scouse girl."

Hollie groaned. "Look… just leave now, right? I'm not messing around. I won't let you mess things up for me and I won't let you mess anyone else up either!"

"No way!" He grinned at her. "I wanna meet your new bloke! I wanna see what you replaced me with."

"Mitch, I mean it!"

"Lighten up! It's only a laugh." He said with a shrug. "Is it him?"

Glancing in the direction he was indicating, Hollie saw Connor watching them suspiciously and shook her head. "No! He's just a mate. Leave it."

"So… is it him?" The young man continued to point out possible candidates while Hollie glared at him. When, finally, he pointed at Kevin, a slight twitch gave her away and he laughed delightedly. "No way? Maths kid?"

Losing her temper, Hollie grabbed him by the arm and started trying to pull him out of the hall. He pushed her away roughly and she stumbled.

"Mitch! Just go!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" He snapped, his temper surfacing instantly.

He glanced around quickly, before taking hold of her wrist and almost dragging her away. Hollie struggled against him, trying to prise his fingers off her, but it was hopeless. In the corridor outside, Mitchell rounded on her furiously.

"How many times do I have to remind you?" He hissed in a low voice. His fingers dug into her upper arms viciously and she gasped. "You belong to us, Hollie." He looked around. "Gav isn't happy you never turned up this afternoon. That's why we're here."

"I was busy."

"Yeah? You can explain that to him."

As he started pulling her away, a firm hold on her arm, she tried to break free. It was impossible and, getting annoyed, he lashed out and caught her on the cheek with his watch. Hollie hissed in pain, but stopped struggling. Mitchell dragged her outside before sending Gavin a text. After a moment or two, he, Jayden and Zoe appeared in the doorway. The former looked irritated, while the other two seemed to want to be anywhere but there.

"Well, well, well… don't you look sweet in your uniform?" Gavin said with a smirk. "I thought you were supposed to be meeting us at the pub?"

"I couldn't get out of the open evening. It wasn't optional."

"Really? Since when have you taken any notice of stuff like that?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Since I grew up."

"Yeah? Well I've got a little job for you." Gavin announced. "A mate of ours is opening up a pole dancing club in town. You'll get £180 a night. That's way better than sitting around listening to boring teachers and doing homework, right?"

"No, Gav." Hollie told him firmly. "I'm not doing it."

"You are."

"No, I'm not! You can't make me."

"Wanna bet?" He asked, glancing at Mitchell, who stepped towards Hollie. She took an involuntary step backwards. "See…"

"My Mum is just in there… and Tom and all the teachers." She pointed out, standing her ground and glaring at them. "What are you gonna do? Kidnap me?"

"Yeah… your Mum is just as fit in real life, ain't she? I think she liked me." Mitchell said with a smirk.

Hollie ground her teeth in annoyance. "Stay away from her."

A shout from the entrance to the school caused Gavin and Mitchell to smirk at her before sauntering away through the gates. Jayden shot her an apologetic look before heading after them. Pausing, Zoe shot a glance after them.

"Are we definitely on for tomorrow? I don't know how much more I can stand." She murmured.

Her friend nodded. "Pack up your stuff and I'll ring you in the morning. We can work out when you'll be able to escape then."

Giving her a quick hug, Hollie smiled and headed back up the slope towards the school. She stopped in front of Tom who sent her a questioning look. Smiling innocently, she moved past and returned to the hall as though nothing had happened.

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you all so, so much for reading! **_

_**I literally nearly screamed when I saw the story stats! Also, I decided to search the Waterloo Road category by Reviews (Two Sides was 1st - and yes, I know it's probably because it has about a million chapters!), Favourites (3rd) and Follows (4th) and I don't think I've been so excited in a while (sad, I know!) But that's down to you lot, so THANK YOU SO MUCH! **__** I love you guys!**_

_**Anyway, even HUGER thanks to **_**Anastasia Dove**_**, **_**Laural87**_**, **_**PondGirl11**_**, '**_**Guest**_**' (thank you for reviewing even though you don't have an account!), **_**Iceinherheart**_** and **_**elliesimpson**_** for your reviews on the last chapter!**_

_**As a thank you from me for being so amazing, have this chapter (which I didn't intend to post until tomorrow) now! :D**_

_**x**_


	77. Chapter 77

"Who was that guy you were talking to last night?" Connor asked as they walked slowly to Maths first thing the next morning. "The one who seemed to be really pissing you off."

She shrugged. "Oh… he was just some loser who was hitting on Mum. Then he tried it on with me, so I told him I had a boyfriend and he was trying to work out who he was."

"Really? What a creep."

"Tell me about it." Hollie agreed. She watched as Connor glanced in Imogen's direction for about the twelfth time. "You and Im definitely over, then?"

"We've been over for ages, Hol."

"Yeah, I know…" She replied with a shrug. "But yesterday I thought…"

"She doesn't want anything else to do with me." Connor admitted bluntly.

Hollie raised an eyebrow, taking a seat beside him near the back of the classroom. "Did she actually say that?" He nodded. "Sorry, babe… that's tough."

They got through the Maths lesson, before splitting for Hollie to go to Geography and Connor to head back to the Common Room for his free lesson. As soon as the bell rang for break time, the girl headed through the corridors, pulling out her mobile. She dialled Zoe's number and waited for the call to connect.

It was answered on the second ring. "Hol?"

"You OK? I've got the rest of the day off we can do this whenever you're ready."

"Day off? Won't your family be around?" Zoe asked warily.

"Nah, they'll be at school. I've got a double free and then PE, which I'm not going to." She explained quickly. "So I'm free whenever you can get away."

"They've gone out somewhere… I'm not sure where. I said I wasn't feeling very well so they've left me here."

Hollie nodded and started walking towards the entrance. "I'm on my way now. Make sure you've got everything ready in case they come back." She thought for a moment. "Write a note telling them you've had a message from your Mum and you've gone back to London to see her. That'll buy us a bit of time when they realise you're gone."

"Are you sure this'll work? They know I haven't seen my Mum in years."

"Of course it will. It'll be alright. Trust me…"

Heading towards the B&B where they were staying as quickly as she could, Hollie hoped that she would be able to keep her promise to Zoe. If they were caught, both girls would be in serious trouble. As she rounded the corner into the street before the one where she was heading, Hollie saw her friend walking quickly towards her.

"I couldn't sit there and wait." Zoe explained, glancing over her shoulder jumpily. "What if they came back and caught me?"

Nodding, her friend took a couple of Zoe's bags and turned on the spot, heading back the way she'd come. They walked briskly, keeping their heads down and trying to draw as little attention to themselves as they could. It was a huge relief as they arrived in Hollie's road. She let them into the house quickly, locking the door and sliding the chain across. Both girls felt instantly safer with the extra security.

"Right… let's take your stuff up to the spare room and then I'll get us a drink, yeah?" Hollie suggested, smiling slightly at the expression on Zoe's face as she looked around.

"This is a well nice house."

"A bit different from the Jasmine Allen, right?" She agreed with a grin. "Come on."

"You sure your parents are cool with this?" Zoe asked, following Hollie up the stairs. She gazed at the room she was ushered into, sitting heavily on the double bed. When Hollie didn't answer, she frowned. "You ain't asked them, have you?"

"It… it wasn't the right time." Hollie admitted reluctantly. "But it'll be fine."

They spent the afternoon in slightly nervous near-silence. It wasn't awkward, but both girls were caught up in their own thoughts. Zoe was thinking about what would happen if Gavin caught up with her, while Hollie was wondering how her Mum and Tom would take the unannounced arrival of the teenager so closely connected with her past.

Gavin phoned just after lunch, demanding to know whether she had heard from Zoe. Hollie informed him that she'd received a text saying that the girl was going back to London to see her Mum, but hadn't actually seen her since the evening before. Whether or not he believed her, Hollie wasn't sure, but he didn't question her and simply demanded that she let him know if she heard from her again. The brunette nodded at her friend, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Later that afternoon, Hollie glanced up from the essay she was working on as she heard the front door open and looked across at Zoe to smile reassuringly at her. She leapt off the sofa as she heard a thud and realised that the chain was still across the door.

"Hols?" Tom called in confusion as he realised the cause of his inability to get in. "Have you put the chain on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She said quickly, sliding it back and opening the door properly. "It's just… where's Mum?"

"She's had to stay behind to sort something out with Mr Byrne and Miss Donegan." He informed her, putting his bag and laptop case on the floor and hanging up his jacket. "She shouldn't be too long."

"I kinda wanted to speak to you both at the same time." Hollie told him with a sigh. "But I can't exactly hide her until Mum gets back."

"Hide her?"

Glancing towards the living room door, which she'd pulled almost closed when she left the room, Hollie nodded. "Did Mum mention my friend Zoe when she… when she was telling you about everything?"

Tom nodded distractedly. "Yeah… I vaguely remember her mentioning something…"

"Well she's left Gavin… she wants a fresh start; to sort her life out. I said she could stay here for a bit." She looked at him pleadingly. "Please… she was always there for me. She was the closest thing I had to family…"

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and exhaled deeply. "This isn't really a great time, Hollie."

"Why? You and Mum… you're not…?"

"No, no." Tom assured her quickly, pulling her into a hug. "We'll be fine… it's just… school stuff."

"I tried to ask last night, but you were arguing and then Mum told me she couldn't deal with drama, so I left it. But then I told Zo it was fine and she's here now."

"Why was the chain on the door?"

She bit her lip. "It was just in case…"

"Is he here?" Tom asked, realisation in his eyes. "In Greenock?"

Knowing that lying would just make things worse, the teenager nodded. "Yeah… but you can't tell Mum that. She'll freak out. Gavin thinks Zoe's gone back to London… he'll kill her if he finds her. We have to keep her safe, Tom."

"Was he at the school last night?" When she didn't answer, he sighed in frustration and shook his head. "Those blokes I saw you talking to at the gates? Right… if she's serious about sorting herself out, I'll speak to Michael about getting her a place at Waterloo Road. She can't stay here all day; she'll have to go back to school. D'you think she'll agree to that?"

Hollie nodded fervently. "Yeah, yeah I think she will."

"Good. Well, you'd better introduce us, then."

* * *

_**A/N: More thank yous for reviews... **_**Iceinherheart**_**, **_**DrBangelWho**_**, **_**elliesimpson**_**, **_**Hobygirl**_**, **_**PondGirl11**_**, **_**Megan**_**, **_**Just A Mad Woman With A Box**_**, '**_**Guest**_**', **_**LucyMaxine**_** and **_**brightlightsbrighterdreams**_**!**_

_**x**_


	78. Chapter 78

Zoe and Hollie were upstairs watching a movie in Hollie's bedroom when Nikki arrived home. She was already in a bad mood after her meeting with Michael and Lorraine and when Tom explained the situation her mood dropped even further. She walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted for her daughter.

Sending her friend a reassuring smile, Hollie headed to see what Nikki wanted, guessing that she was probably about to raise objections to Zoe's presence in the house. She sighed as she descended the stairs and was greeted by her mother, arms folded and an unimpressed scowl on her face. Nikki motioned the teenager into the living room and followed her in, closing the door with a bang.

"What are you thinking?" She demanded standing over Hollie as the girl dropped onto the sofa.

"Didn't Tom explain?" Hollie asked, glancing towards him. Nikki sent her boyfriend a quick look which clearly told him to keep quiet. Tom held up his hands and shook his head, retreating from the room. "Oh, so you just weren't listening."

"Hollie… this is the girl who got you into thieving and drugs and… everything else. I don't want her around you!"

"I'm not a kid! You can't decide who I'm friends with!"

Nikki raised an eyebrow. "No? What if I kick her out?"

Hollie's mouth dropped open and she stood up quickly. "Mum… you can't." She exhaled sharply and chewed her lip. "Look… I know I should have asked you first, but you can't kick her out. It ain't safe…"

"That's not my problem!"

"No, but it's mine."

"How?"

"Whatever you think, Zoe was the only person that looked out for me. She was the closest thing I had to family back then. If she goes back to Gavin now he'll kill her." The teenager looked imploringly at her mother. "Please, Mum. Tom said he'd talk to Mr Byrne and get her a place at Waterloo Road."

"Just what I need… more delinquents in the PRU."

Hollie glared at her. "Zo ain't a delinquent. She just… she ain't had an easy life."

"And you have? Or me? Or Josh? Or most of those kids." Nikki pointed out. "But she's the only one who's led you off the straight and narrow."

"She never!" Her daughter argued. "She never made me do anything I didn't want to."

"Yeah, right…"

Frowning at her mother's scoffing, Hollie shrugged. "OK… just meet her, yeah? Have a proper, non-judgemental conversation with Zoe. If you still don't like her, fine… we'll think of something else."

There was a long pause. "Fine. Fine! I'll talk to her."

"And if you wouldn't mind pretending you haven't already made up your mind about her I'd appreciate it." The teenager said sarcastically, pushing past her mother and stalking out into the corridor.

"Hey, Hols… am I setting the table for five, then?" Tom asked in a low voice. He smiled weakly at her.

She nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Tom."

"Look just… give your Mum a break, eh? She's stressed with this PRU stuff and she just wants to make sure you're OK."

"Yeah… course."

"Hols… Hollie!" He called after her as she ignored him and headed upstairs to fill Zoe in on what was going on.

The teenager explained the situation to her friend, warning her to be on her best behaviour. If they had any chance of convincing Nikki that letting Zoe stay was a good idea they needed to make sure she made a good impression. As Hollie looked her up and down critically, screwing up her nose as she assessed her, Zoe sighed.

"What?"

"Well… if we're gonna make her like you I think we need to change your image."

Zoe looked disgusted at the idea. "Eh?"

"Not forever… just…" Hollie went into her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of jeans. "Tone down the eye makeup a bit and shove these on, she'll approve of them more than that skirt."

"Holl, I'm taller than you."

"Yeah, well… shove on your boots and no one will be able to tell they're too short." The girl replied, disappearing into the spare room and returning a couple of moments later with a t-shirt and the aforementioned boots. "Here…"

Rolling her eyes, she changed her top and pulled on the boots. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she frowned. "This is never gonna work."

"It has to." Hollie told her firmly. "Just 'til Tom convinces Mr Byrne to give you a place at Waterloo Road and then she can't do anything about it. If you're at school and she can see you really do want to sort yourself out then she won't kick you out."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Hollie had just finished briefing Zoe on how to handle her mother and what topics to steer clear off, when Tom shouted up the stairs that dinner was ready. With a final appraising glance, Hollie led the way downstairs and into the kitchen. Nikki barely looked at either girl, finishing laying the table and then opened the fridge to pull out a bottle of wine.

"Right… hope you're hungry girls." Tom said, spooning chili into bowls and placing them in front of the teenagers. "Where's that son of mine got to?"

Just as he started moving towards the door, Josh appeared, dropping into his seat and starting to eat without even registering the presence of a second girl at the table. Tom sighed and reminded the boy that he had manners. Hollie tried to smile at his words, but found that she couldn't even bring herself to eat her chili. It was possibly one of her favourite meals, but with Nikki stabbing violently at her own dinner across the table from the teenager, she found she couldn't enjoy it.

"So, Zoe, is this your first time in Scotland?" Tom asked when no one else attempted to make conversation.

"Umm… yeah…" She nodded, glancing quickly at her friend for guidance. Hollie smiled back. "It's alright, really, isn't it? Like I thought there'd be bagpipes and people would be wearing kilts and stuff…"

Nikki rolled her eyes and shook her head at the girl's words. Sensing the tension descending again, her daughter struggled to think of something to say. "Nah, babe… that's just in Edinburgh."

"Really?" Zoe asked, wide-eyed.

"No, you div!" Hollie laughed, shaking her head as her friend blinked in confusion. Josh snorted with laughter and Tom chuckled. Moments later the three teenagers and the English teacher were laughing at the comment. Only Nikki remained silent, frowning at her dinner.

"So…" Tom glanced between the teenagers. "I was thinking."

"Watch yourself." Hollie warned him cheekily, earning herself a grin from her mother's boyfriend.

"Very funny! No, I was thinking that if we can get Zoe a place at Waterloo Road there should be a place at the School House available too, since Phoenix Taylor left." Glancing between the girls again and seeing almost identical worried expressions on both their faces, he smiled. "It'll be perfectly safe there; it'll probably be better for you to be there than here, Zoe. You're less likely to be connected to there."

Hollie considered his reasoning for a moment and then nodded, smiling reassuringly at her friend. Then she glanced back at Tom. "I was thinking that it might be better if she registers under a different surname. I mean, what with Facebook and everything if you're really going to make a new start you'll have to properly cut ties with your past… like I have."

"Yeah… alright." Zoe agreed with a nod. "Any suggestions?"

"Girls… you can't just–"

Completely ignoring Tom's objections to that idea, the girls and Josh began coming up with ideas for a new surname for Zoe. Their suggestions became more and more ridiculous until Nikki pushed her chair back, slammed her plate onto the counter beside the sink and stormed out of the kitchen. Silence fell at once.

The four of them left at the kitchen table looked at each other for a moment as the woman's footsteps were clearly audible on the stairs. A couple of seconds later they heard the bedroom door slam shut.

As Tom rose with a sigh to go and see his girlfriend, her daughter shook her head and stood up quickly. "I'll go. It's me she's pissed off with."

Hollie made her way quickly up the stairs and paused outside Nikki and Tom's bedroom door. She hesitated, wondering whether to knock or just push her way into the room. She was scared. Not of her mother; she was sure that Nikki would never do anything to physically hurt her. But the girl was scared that maybe she'd pushed her Mum too far on this issue and Nikki wouldn't forgive her. Taking a steadying breath she knocked softly, before opening the door and walking in. Nikki was standing at the foot of the bed with her back to the door.

"Mum?" When the woman didn't answer, her daughter took a tentative step towards her. "Mum… please?"

"What d'you want, Hollie?"

Hearing the slight wobble in her voice, the teenager stepped forwards again and reached out to touch Nikki's shoulder. "Mum, please…"

"Please what?" Nikki snapped, turning round. Hollie was stunned to see that her eyes were red and tears were making tracks down her cheeks.

"Don't be like this… I never meant to upset you. You said you'd talk to Zoe before you made your mind up about her, but you couldn't even do that, could you? All you see is a teenage junkie prostitute from an Estate." The teenager told her fiercely, her anger rising as she spoke. "Well that was me, Mum. I was that person until I got a second chance. I'd still be that person now if I hadn't had the opportunity to leave that life behind. Zoe's never been given that opportunity. But now she's got it. She really wants to change; she wants to get an education and sort her life out and leave all that behind. Why should I be allowed to do that and she shouldn't?"

"Why is it our problem, Hollie?" Nikki demanded, just as angrily. "Why does she have to come here, dragging up all those memories and probably leading other people straight to you? Why can't her family help her? Why do you have to get dragged back down into that world?"

"Because she's got no one else! Zoe's Mum left when she was nine and she never knew her Dad. Her Grandma brought her up but Corinne died when Zoe was just fifteen and I was fourteen; I went to her funeral. Zoe and Corinne only had each other and now Zoe's only got me."

Nikki let out a deep breath, shuddering slightly and closing her eyes. When she opened them again the teenager saw she was holding back a fresh wave of tears. "Alright… Zoe can stay here until she can move into the School House. I'll do what I can to help her and I'll apologise for my behaviour."

"Thank you."

"I just don't want this to… I'm scared that being around Zoe will drag you back to where you were back then."

"It won't." Hollie promised, hugging her mother tightly. "I won't ever go back."


	79. Chapter 79

Tom and Nikki convinced Mr Byrne to give Zoe a place in the PRU and also a room at the School House. On Saturday she moved in with the other boarders, taking noticing of what Hollie and Josh had told her about her new housemates. After a lot of discussion, Zoe had finally settled on Robins as her new surname as it had been her Grandmother's maiden name.

On Monday morning, as they'd arranged, Hollie met her friend at the school gates and they walked in together. Tom and Nikki, as well as Maggie, had thought it was best if the two girls were kept apart for the weekend to allow Zoe to settle in properly and get to know the other teenagers at the School House without Hollie around, so they had a lot of catching up to do even though they'd been texting each other pretty much constantly. Scout shot them a curious, slightly dirty, look as she strode past with Rhiannon and Jade, barging Hollie with her shoulder as she went.

"How are you getting on with everyone, then?" The brunette asked, leaning against Zoe's new locker as her friend sorted her things out.

Zoe shrugged. "Jade's nice; she's been making sure I'm OK. I remembered what you said about Rhiannon bitching behind your back and I've made sure I ain't said nothing she can use against me."

"Yeah… make sure you don't say nothing about…" Hollie trailed off, knowing that the meaning would be obvious without her having to finish the sentence.

"As if I would! I'm trying to forget about it." Her friend said quickly. "This is supposed to be a new start, remember? For both of us."

Hollie nodded and sighed as the bell rang shrilly. "Yeah, yeah, I know. And just… try not to wind my Mum up. She's sorry she was a cow and she's promised to be nice."

"I know." Zoe assured her with a smile. "I don't blame her for being suspicious. At least she cares."

"That's true… I'll see you at break, yeah?"

As Zoe headed off in the direction Hollie had told her the PRU was located in, the brunette headed off to the common room for her double free period to complete the History essay for Mrs McFall that she'd been putting off finishing all weekend.

When the bell rang for lunchtime – after a slightly strange English lesson with Mrs Mulgrew – Hollie met Zoe by their lockers and walked with her to the canteen. They got their lunch and carried it to a table a little way from the table where Scout and Rhiannon were sitting with Jade and Imogen, ignoring the curious looks they were being sent from that direction. Neither of them had mentioned their prior connection to anyone else and so everyone was trying to work out why they could apparently already be so close after only meeting that morning.

The girls chatted about their mornings, Zoe filling her friend in on the fact that both Barry and Scout had been taken away and interviewed by the police. Hollie's eyebrows rose at this snippet of information and she shook her head slightly as Zoe told her the blonde had seemed unrepentant and cockily confident when she returned to the PRU. Hollie hadn't even noticed her mother's presence in the room until she overheard Rhiannon making fun of her, turning quickly in her seat to glare at the girl.

"_Jodie… I do believe you shot John F. Kennedy. Now, come on girl, own up. I think hanging's too good for you._"

"Oi! Shut your face, Salt, before I come and shut it for you!" Hollie threatened angrily.

"Hol…" Zoe muttered, frowning and shaking her head sharply.

The brunette ground her teeth and glanced at her mother. Nikki copied Zoe's action, warning her daughter not to lose her temper. Reluctantly Hollie sank down in her chair, cursing the fact that her friend was so unconfrontational. Zoe had always done her best to stop Hollie flying off the handle. Instead, the girl contented herself by sending Scout a hard stare.

"_I'm getting out of here._" The blonde muttered, just loud enough to be overheard.

Jumping out of her seat and making her way over to the table with her tray, Hollie cut Scout's exit route off and forced her to stop. "If you don't stop winding my Mum up and getting your little mates to take the piss out of her you'll be sorry."

"I ain't scared of you." Scout muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"Hollie." Nikki appeared between them, frowning at her daughter. "Leave it."

Sighing, the brunette sent a final glare in the blonde's direction and stalked back towards the table where she'd been sitting, dropping into her seat opposite Zoe's. Her friend sighed and shook her head, but they both glanced up at a loud crash and saw Scout stalking away, leaving Nikki staring after her. A moment later Barry appeared beside the woman, said something and then left her staring speechlessly after him. Frowning, the two girls exchanged a look and rose from the table. Zoe carried her tray over and cleared it away while Hollie helped her mother clear up the remains of Scout's lunch.

"What's up, Mum?" She murmured as they deposited the fragments of plate in the bin. "What did he say?"

"I think… I was wrong, Hol… it wasn't Jodie." Nikki said slowly, realisation dawning on her face. She looked horrified. "I've been blaming Jodie when she didn't steal my car… it was Barry."

"Are you sure?"

Nikki nodded. "He knew that the windscreen wipers only worked on slow… he practically just admitted to me that he stole it. It was him." She sighed and looked completely ashamed of herself. "You and I have both got apologies to make, Hollie."

The teenager snorted and straightened up, banging Scout's tray into the rack. "You are kidding? I ain't apologising for nothing."

"You punched Jodie in the face." Her mother reminded her.

Hollie shrugged. "So? She deserved it. I didn't punch her because I thought she'd nicked your car, I punched her because she was a dick. She was a cow about you. That's why she got a slap."

"You're going to apologise and that's the end of it."

"No, I'm really not." The teenager replied firmly, sending her mother a smile and stalking away, grabbing Zoe's arm and dragging her friend in her wake.

They found Kevin in the common room working on something on one of the computers and Hollie introduced her friend to her boyfriend. Zoe seemed to find it funny that the slightly geeky boy in front of her was Hollie's boyfriend, but she didn't say anything and by the time the bell rang to signal that lunch was over the two were getting on very well.

When Zoe had headed away in the direction of the PRU, Kevin slung his arm around Hollie's shoulders and started walking her in the direction of her Geography class. He paused at the end of the corridor and leant against the wall, looking at her with his head tilted to one side.

"Connor's leaving." He said after a moment.

Hollie frowned. "What d'you mean?"

"His Dad came to see him and Connor's going to go and live with him."

"Really? I though he said his Dad was a paramedic abroad somewhere?"

Shrugging and moving his bag up his shoulder, her boyfriend sighed. "I dunno… he just told me at the beginning of lunch. I haven't seen him since."

"Does Im know?"

"I dunno… I doubt it." Kevin replied. "But you can't tell her, Hol. Connor has to do it."

"Yeah, yeah… alright." She agreed with a smile, seeing the disbelieving expression on his face. Leaning towards him, she gave him a kiss before pulling open the doors that led to the Geography corridor. "I'll see you later."


	80. Chapter 80

After school, Zoe and Hollie went back to the brunette's house via the School House to tell Maggie where Zoe was going. The woman had demanded that she was back for dinner and the girl reluctantly agreed before escaping. Josh grinned at them as they walked through the front door, telling them he was going to change and then going out so they would have some peace.

"Your Mum apologised to Jodie in front of everyone; said she was innocent and everything." Zoe informed Hollie a while after the front door closing indicated that the boy had left. She stretched out along the sofa and flicked through the magazine on her lap. She didn't look up from the pages as she spoke. "She said that she'd behaved reprehensibly to her. I don't even know what that means!"

"It's like… well bad." Hollie told her, looking up from her homework. "What did Scout say?"

"She was totally embarrassed. She just asked Nikki to carry on with the lesson."

"That's rude… she could have made some effort to thank Mum for the apology; especially as she said it in front of everyone." The brunette muttered, returning her attention to her work.

"Yeah… but your Mum asked her to stay behind for a bit after school. I reckon she was gonna apologise again."

Rolling her eyes, Hollie frowned. "Why? Once is enough, ain't it? It's more than she's gonna get from me, anyway."

They returned to silence for a couple of minutes, before the girl sighed and put her pen down. Zoe had pulled herself off the sofa and was going through the CD collection stacked beside the stereo. She pulled out a case and flipped it open, putting the disk into the tray and selecting a track. Hollie grinned as the familiar opening bars of _Fame_ by David Bowie filled the room.

"Remember this?" The taller girl asked, dancing towards her friend and pulling her out of her chair.

Hollie laughed and joined Zoe in the middle of the carpet dancing to the song as well. "Course I do! Whenever Tom puts this on it reminds me of your Gran's birthday when we were fourteen; she was so funny after drinking that rum!"

The two girls danced around the living room, singing along to the song and striking poses until the track ended and changed. Collapsing together on the sofa they laughed for a moment, before simultaneously leaning back and sighing. For a couple of moments they sat in contemplative silence.

"Zo… I'm gonna ring Gav." Hollie murmured suddenly.

"What? Why?" The panic was clear on her friend's face as she sat up straight.

"I won't tell him anything about you, but someone's got to teach that Barry Barry a lesson. He thinks he's god's gift or something… he thinks he can get away with nicking my Mum's car. Well he ain't going to."

Zoe swung her legs out from underneath her and turned towards Hollie. "You can't do that, Hol. You know Gav will want something in return. This is a new start… don't get involved. Just leave it to the police to sort out. If you get Gav to batter Barry, he's gonna want to know who did it and why… he's smart enough to figure things out and I wouldn't put it past him to work out things about us we'd rather he didn't. Just… please leave it."

"We don't even know if they're still in Scotland. He probably went back to London straight away when he found out you'd gone." Hollie told her quickly.

"Yeah? So just… don't."

Sighing, she nodded and moved to the table where she'd left her homework. Hollie picked up her pen again. Tapping it against her book, she rested her chin on her other hand and stared sightlessly at the window. "I'll text him and find out if he's heard from you." Seeing that Zoe was about to argue again, she shook her head. "That'll make him think I still don't know where you are, won't it?"

"Alright… but make sure you don't let anything slip."

'_**Hey Gav… have you heard anything from Zo? I haven't and I'm starting to worry… Let me know, yeah? x**_'

Knowing that Zoe would be worrying about what she's written, Hollie moved to show her friend the text she'd just sent, before putting her phone on the table and returning her attention to her homework. It was only a couple of minutes before the mobile beeped and alerted them to a reply. Zoe stared anxiously at Hollie as the brunette read the message quickly and then passed the phone across.

'_**Had a message yesterday saying she's going to live with her Mum in Bristol. We're going back to London tomorrow. Fancy a drink before we leave?**_'

"You can't." Zoe told her at once. "You just… you can't go and meet them on your own!"

"Yeah, but if I refuse they're gonna know something's up. Remember what happened when I couldn't go because of the open evening?"

'_**I'll see you at The Crown in fifteen. x**_'

"I can't believe you." Zoe muttered, shaking her head as Hollie sent the message.

Not responding to her words, Hollie headed upstairs quickly to get changed out of her uniform. She knew that she was probably making a mistake by venturing out to meet Gavin and the others, but if she didn't they'd guess that something was up. Sighing, she pulled on some jeans and a top, picking up a cardigan from the floor by her bed and pulling that on as well. Her boots were by the door and she picked them and her bag up as she passed. Back in the hallway, she shrugged on her jacket and poked her head around the door.

"If I'm not back by six phone me on the house phone. That gives me an hour at the pub." She told Zoe quickly.

"Hol... I'm gonna go home... to the School House, I mean." Her friend replied with a sigh. "Your Mum might not hate me any more, but I don't fancy being here on my own when she gets back. She'll wanna know where you are and I ain't gonna be the one to tell her you're with your old pimp."

The brunette sighed. "Alright... If she gets back early and we're not here she'll just assume I'm with you, anyway. But if I haven't let you know I'm home by quarter past six ring me, yeah? I'll pretend it's Mum."

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?"

"They're going back to London tomorrow... what's the worst that could happen?"

Zoe exhaled sharply. "Don't say that, Hollie! Now something bad will happen!"

"No it won't. This isn't a crappy horror movie." Her friend replied with a laugh. She waited as Zoe gathered her things before they walked to the door. "Just ring me later, OK?"

When her friend reluctantly headed in the opposite direction, towards the School House, Hollie made her way towards The Crown pub where she'd arranged to meet Gavin and the others. She took a deep breath as she stood outside, letting her hand rest on the door for a moment, before pushing it open and going inside. It took her a couple of seconds to spot the three young men at a table in the corner, her confusion growing as she noticed a fourth person with them, sitting with his back to her.

"Hollie!" Gavin called, standing and smiling at her. "We got you a drink."

She smiled weakly and threaded her way through the tables until she reached them, settling herself beside Jay. "Hey."

"You remember Duncan, right?"

Her heart lurched as she met the fourth man's eyes. Hollie definitely remembered Duncan, although she wished she didn't. "Yeah, course. How are you?"

"All the better for seeing you." He replied, his eyes running over her and making the teenager incredibly uncomfortable.

Hollie struggled through forty-five minutes, mainly listening to the conversation taking place around her and sneaking glances at the time, plotting her escape. At ten to six she was preparing herself to make her excuses and leave, when the pub door opened and she caught sight of who was walking in. Slouching slightly in her seat, she kept her head down, hoping the two people who had just entered wouldn't spot her.

"Ahh… you've made it." Duncan said, his chair scraping on the floor as he stood up to greet someone. "Gav, Jay, Mitch, Hollie… this is my friend Carol and her son, Barry."

"Hollie?" Barry said with a smirk. Without looking at him the girl could hear his amusement in his tone. "Didn't expect to see you here."

She groaned and forced herself to look up, her panic rising by the second. "Yeah, well… I'd better go, anyway. I'm… I'm supposed to be meeting my boyfriend."

Smiling weakly at Jay, Hollie pushed her way past him and Mitch and tried to escape. Her exit was blocked by Gavin, who grabbed her wrist and held her tightly as he apologised to the others, saying he just wanted a quick word with her. Pulling the girl through the pub and out of the side entrance, he pushed her roughly against the wall.

"That was rude."

"I haven't got time for this." She told him, trying to keep calm. "I need to go."

"I take it you know that Barry, then?" Gavin asked, ignoring her words.

She frowned. "Yeah… he goes to my school. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention…"

"Your past?"

"Yeah." Hollie agreed with a nod. Sighing, she fixed him with a pleading expression. "Please, Gav. Please don't ruin everything for me."

Gavin smiled and stepped backwards, signalling that she was free to leave. "Why would I do that?"


	81. Chapter 81

"What's up with you?" Kevin asked as he and Hollie made their way through the corridors to their Maths lesson after break on Wednesday morning. The girl had stayed at home the day before, claiming she was ill. "You're so jumpy today."

"Nothing, babe…" She muttered, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Just tired… I didn't sleep very well last night and I'm still not feeling a hundred per cent..."

"Oh… have you got physio later?"

She shook her head, pushing open the classroom door and dropping her bag on a table. "No, tomorrow when you lucky people are in PE."

As the teacher appeared and started the lesson, Hollie rested her head on her hand and allowed her mind to wander. She'd spent the morning trying to avoid bumping into Barry Barry after seeing him in the pub the on Monday night. The girl hoped that Gavin or any of the others hadn't told him anything, but she couldn't be sure. Hollie wondered whether the fact that he hadn't come looking for her – and neither had her mother or anyone else – meant that he didn't know about her past. Then again, it could just be wishful thinking and he could be plotting something truly awful.

"Hollie?"

She blinked and glanced at the teacher, Mr Richards, who was asking her what the value of 'x' could be after considering the equations on the board. Hollie had absolutely no idea what the answer was and stared blankly at him until Kevin whispered the answer in her ear. Once the teacher had carried on with the lesson, she sighed.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Kevin asked in a low voice as they were set a series of questions to complete from their text books.

"I'm fine."

He sighed. "Is this something to do with Scout?"

Hollie turned and fixed him with a disdainful look, arching an eyebrow. "Why would it have anything to do with her?"

"She was your best friend and I know you miss her." Kevin replied simply. "Why don't you just talk to her?"

"Because she's a cow."

"Miss Boston, Mr Skelton." Mr Richards warned, turning and catching the girl's words.

They returned to their work for a moment, before Kevin looked up. Seeing that the man was helping someone on the other side of the room, he nudged his girlfriend. "I know she misses you too."

"So?"

"So talk to her!" He urged. "One of you has to make the first move."

"Yeah, well it won't be me."

"Hollie!" The teacher snapped, frowning at her.

The girl clenched her jaw and bowed her head, staring sightlessly at the blank paper in front of her. She hadn't even started on the equations they were supposed to be working through yet. As Kevin attempted to speak to her again, Hollie glared at him.

"Will you just drop it!" She ordered loudly. "I don't give a shit if she's upset!"

Finally having enough of the teenager, Mr Richards straightened up and folded his arms. "Hollie Boston, Cooler… now!"

With a growl of anger, the teenager stuffed her things into her bag and grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair, knocking it over as she did so. She didn't stop to pick the chair up, storming out of the classroom and slamming the door behind her. Outside in the corridor she took several deep breaths before heading in the direction of the Cooler.

As she rounded the corner into the corridor she was heading for, she came face to face with her mother's PRU pupils walking in the direction she was leaving. Moving to one side and ignoring them as they passed, with the exception of Zoe who shot her a concerned frown, Hollie tried to avoid her mother's eyes. Nikki said nothing at the sight of her daughter, but she did turn to look at her in concern as the teenager continued towards the Cooler.

"Oi, Boston." A low male voice accompanied a hand on her arm, pulling her round.

"What d'you want?" She snapped at the smirking face close to hers.

Barry's smile widened. "I know your little secret."

Hollie felt her blood go cold. She had never really thought that it actually went cold, but now she knew that it was possible for the blood to turn to ice in her veins. "What…?"

"Don't worry… I haven't said anything. Yet." He told her. "But I think you're going to have to start being very nice to me if you want me to keep my mouth shut."

"Oi!" Nikki shouted, realising that she'd lost one of her charges. "Barry!"

He sent Hollie one final grin, before turning and jogging to rejoin his class. Nikki frowned at the expression on her daughter's face and seemed torn over whether to go and see what was wrong or whether to stay with the students in her care. The decision was made for her when Hollie sent her a weak smile and turned quickly, opening the Cooler door.

"Miss Boston? This is a surprise." Mr Budgen said lazily, barely glancing up from his copy of the Racing Post. "What was it this time? GBH? Criminal damage?"

"Talking too loudly in Maths, Sir, although I was tempted by ABH... or possibly wounding with intent." She replied sarcastically.

The English teacher's gaze snapped up from his paper and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Sit down and get on with whatever it is you're supposed to be doing."

Taking a seat at the back of the room, Hollie pulled out her Maths books and started trying to work her way through the equations they'd been set. Her mind wasn't on it, however, and she spent the rest of the double lesson imagining what Barry might do or say. She couldn't believe that Gavin had actually betrayed her although, the more she thought about it, the more she realised it had been inevitable. Barry wouldn't have dropped the issue after seeing her with them and it probably wouldn't have taken much persuasion for Mitchell, at least, to tell him everything. Hollie found herself hoping that they hadn't mentioned Zoe. While everyone finding out about her past would be horrible and uncomfortable and mortifying, if Gavin found out where her friend was then Zoe would be in real danger.

As Hollie gathered her things up at lunchtime, she spotted her Mum lurking outside the Cooler, obviously waiting for her. The girl sighed and made her way towards the woman, shooting her a smile. She hadn't decided whether to tell her what was happening or not. Hollie was sure she could handle Barry and didn't know whether she wanted to get her mother involved; especially as it would mean admitting that she'd been out drinking with Gavin and the others.

"Hey." She murmured softly.

"Hollie… why were you in the Cooler?" Nikki demanded, steering her daughter into an empty classroom and fixing her with a fierce stare. "Please tell me you didn't kick off again."

"I didn't kick off." Hollie promised. "Mr Richards sent me to the Cooler for talking in Maths. Well… I shouted at Kevin and he sent me out."

Nikki frowned. "Why did you shout at Kevin?"

"He was going on about me making up with Scout and he wouldn't drop it. He was doing my head in."

"He's right, though. You should make up with Scout." The woman told her daughter gently. Clenching her jaw, not wanting to keep being told that she should apologise or back down, Hollie folded her arms. Nikki sighed. "What did Barry want?"

"The usual; taking the piss." The teenager informed her with a shrug. "What does Barry ever want?"

"You just… you looked scared."

Hollie snorted with laughter. "Me? Scared of Barry Barry? I don't think so."

"Hol…"

"Seriously, Mum, it's fine."

With a sigh, the woman reached out and pulled her daughter towards her, hugging her tightly and closing her eyes. She breathed deeply, resting her cheek against the top of Hollie's head. In her arms, the teenager clung on tightly, burying her face in her mother's shoulder and wishing that everything that was threatening to tear her family apart would just go away. She knew that if she gave in she was likely to start crying, so she bit her lip and willed herself to stay strong.

After a moment, Nikki pulled away. She put her hands on either side of Hollie's face and smiled at her. "I know I've been stressed with the PRU and my car and everything lately, but I'm going to make it up to you, OK? On Saturday we'll go and do something together, alright, just you and me. Sound good?"

Hollie nodded and grinned happily. "Sounds perfect."


	82. Chapter 82

Nikki was true to her word and on Saturday she and Hollie headed to Edinburgh. They laughed as they remembered the first time they'd visited, both unable to believe just how much things had changed in such a short space of time. When they wandered around the shops arm-in-arm, Hollie rested her head on her mother's shoulder and smiled as she felt the gentle pressure of Nikki's head on top of her own.

As they sat in a quaint little tea shop, Nikki sipping from her cup of tea while Hollie contemplated her thick strawberry milkshake, silence fell between them. Far from being awkward, it was natural and comfortable and both females were thinking about how glad they were they'd both made the move to Scotland. While neither could say they didn't wish certain things hadn't happened, both knew that all of the events of the past months had helped them get to where they were now.

"I never want things to change." Hollie muttered at last, poking her straw into her glass thoughtfully.

Nikki smiled and replaced her cup onto the saucer carefully. "What d'you mean?"

"You, me, Tom and Josh… things are settling down now, aren't they?" The girl's voice was quiet and almost pleading as she looked up at her mother hopefully. "I mean… you and Tom have been arguing a lot… you're not going to split up, are you?"

Taking her hand across the table, the woman squeezed it and smiled reassuringly. She shook her head vigorously. "No, sweetheart, we're not. Tom was angry with me over the way I was treating Jodie… Scout… and he was right. I was wrong to act the way I did. It wasn't professional and it wasn't fair. But that's work; we're always going to have disagreements about school. We have very different teaching styles and ideas about how to deal with students, but that will stay inside Waterloo Road. I promise. Nothing is going to spoil things for us now."

"Nothing?" Hollie asked in disbelief.

"After the last couple of months I don't think there's anything we can't survive as a family." Nikki told her with a soft chuckle. "Anything you or Josh do now will be nothing compared to what you've been through."

Not completely sure that was true, the teenager smiled and returned her attention to her milkshake while Nikki flicked through one of the books she'd bought that afternoon. They finished their drinks and the slices of cake they hadn't been able to resist – although Nikki had muttered something about needing to go for a run to work off the calories, causing her daughter to roll her eyes – before gathering up their things and heading back to the car.

On the drive back to Greenock, Nikki sang happily along to her Adele CD and swatted good-naturedly at her daughter as she laughed and threatened to film her on her mobile and upload the footage to the internet. By the time they'd almost reached Glasgow, Hollie had joined in and both females were singing their hearts out and ignoring the questioning stares they received as Nikki drew the car to a halt at the traffic lights.

Leaving her mother to greet Tom in peace, Hollie carried her bags upstairs and dumped them on her bed. Pulling out her mobile, which she had been largely ignoring all day, she was alarmed to see that she had a text from an unknown number.

'_If you want me to keep my mouth shut, meet me at The Anchor at 9. B._'

Deleting the message hurriedly, she dropped the mobile onto her bed and threw herself face down beside it, wrapping the duvet around her. Screaming, sure that the sound would be muffled by the covers, Hollie kicked her legs in frustration.

"Hollie?" She glanced up at the questioning tone in Tom's voice, unrolling from the duvet.

"Alright?"

"Yeah… are you?"

"Absolutely perfect." She muttered. Seeing the expression on his face she grinned. "Seriously, I'm fine."

"Right… well I need to talk to you about something." He announced, closing the door behind him as he entered her bedroom properly.

The girl regarded him with a mixture of confusion and suspicion as he sat beside her on the bed and turned to face her seriously. Hollie's first thought was that he'd found something out and she was going to be asked to explain things. She glanced nervously towards her mobile before remembering that she'd deleted all the incriminating messages already. Noticing the expression on her face, Tom smiled.

"I wanted to ask how you'd feel if I asked your Mum to marry me."

"Really?"

"Well… yeah." He frowned at her reaction. "Do you not want–"

"No. No!" She insisted, grinning at him and throwing her arms around his neck. "No, Tom, that would be brilliant!"

"Are you sure? If it's too soon after everything–"

"Tom, no! It's amazing! I'm so happy!"

He beamed at her, hugging her tightly. "I thought I'd take her out for dinner and ask her tonight. If that's OK?"

"It's more than OK!" She agreed. "Have you told Josh?"

Tom shook his head. "No, I thought I should ask you first. I'm gonna go and clear it with Josh now."

Sighing happily, the girl squealed again. "Tom… this is just…"

He laughed as she ran out of words to express how she felt about the situation. Then he hugged her again before standing up and moving to the door. "I'm going to speak to Josh and then we're going out. I think Josh is going to a gig… are you going out?"

"I might meet Zoe later… I'm not sure yet." She told him, her mood plummeting instantly as she remembered the text from Barry.

"Well have fun." Tom insisted, unable to keep the grin from his face.

x-x

At five to nine Hollie found herself standing outside The Anchor pub in one of the less reputable parts of the town. She had never been there before and now knew why; it wasn't exactly somewhere she was likely to go with her friends. The façade was faded and peeling and several of the windows were boarded up. Shuddering, the girl pushed open the door and made her way to the bar.

The clientele seemed to be almost exclusively shady looking figures and old men. Perching herself on a bar stool and trying to keep the look of disgust off her face, Hollie waited for Barry to arrive. She was going through what she would say in her head; starting with demanding to know exactly what he knew.

After a couple of moments the doors opened again and the young man she was waiting for swaggered towards her. He leant on the bar and ordered a pint for himself and a vodka for her. Hollie glared at him, but Barry just grinned back, shooting her a wink as he handed over the money to the barman. Without saying a word, he moved towards a table in a dingy corner, leaving the girl no option but to follow him.

"So… what d'you know?" She demanded as soon as they were seated, unable to hold back any longer.

"About what?" Barry replied innocently.

"About the space race?" Hollie snapped sarcastically. "About me and… my past?"

He chuckled, taking a sip of his pint. "I know that you worked as a prostitute for Gavin Ashton in London. I also know that one of your punters, Duncan Lambett, has opened a pole dancing club here and you refused to work there."

"How did you–?"

"He's a mate of me ma's." Barry informed her casually with a shrug. "Our Dynasty had an audition there but she refused to go through with it."

"Good for her." Hollie muttered, her estimation of the girl rising dramatically. "So… what is it you want?"

"Well… if you want me to keep this information to myself you're going to have to be very nice to me."

She stared at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes. "You're saying that if I sleep with you then you'll keep your mouth shut?"

"You catch on fast. I didn't even have to spell it out to you."

"I can't do that… I can't do it to Kev!"

"Who says he has to know?"

"But I'll know!" Hollie protested angrily. "Why? There are loads of girls at school you could have your pick of. Why me?"

Barry laughed again. "Because you're out of bounds."

"What?"

"You're Boston's daughter, you've got a boyfriend and, most importantly, I was warned not to go near you by more than one person." He said with a smirk. Hollie didn't need to ask who'd warned him to stay away. "I'll give you some time to think about it… see you Monday."

Grabbing her bag, Hollie stormed out of the pub, tears of frustration clouding her vision as she almost ran home.

* * *

_**A/N: Hello lovelies! Thank you for reading and thank you to **_******Anastasia Dove, Iceinherheart, DrBangelWho, TheForgottenWeasley, ****PondGirl11**_**, '**_**Guest**_**' (It sounds a bit rude calling you Guest, but I wanted to thank you anyway!), **_**LucyMaxine**_**, **_**laural87**_**,**_ **elliesimpson**** and CBurns1995**_** for your reviews over the last few chapters! :D**_

_**I've just created a twitter to post about updates and things, so if you're interested it's TheSerenBex :)**_

_**x**_


	83. Chapter 83

On Monday morning Hollie got a lift to school with her Mum and Tom. Nikki kept glancing at the diamond on her ring finger, causing the teenagers to roll their eyes. Since Tom had proposed, the two adults had been acting far more soppy and loved-up than they usually did. While Hollie and Josh pretended that it annoyed them, they were both delighted by the news.

When Josh had got back from the gig on Saturday night he had barged into Hollie's bedroom, completely ignoring the fact that she was curled up in her bed and totally not in the mood for conversation. He launched into a mostly one-sided dialogue about the upcoming wedding; speculating on when and where it might happen, what Nikki would wear and whether they would be allowed to go on the honeymoon with them. Hollie had raised an eyebrow at that question and told him that she highly doubted it.

As Tom pulled into a space in the school car park, Nikki leant over to give him a kiss. Two loud groans from the backseat were followed by two loud slams as the teenagers got out of the car and headed into school, leaving their parents to follow in their own time.

"This is going to be a nightmare if they carry on acting like this." Josh muttered, holding open the door and waiting for Hollie to go inside first.

"Mmm…" She agreed with a nod. "But they wouldn't at school, would they? They're always on about professionalism and all that shit."

Josh shrugged. "Who knows. Everyone's gonna know, though. I don't reckon Dad could have found a bigger diamond."

"It's dead sweet, though, ain't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

Hollie grinned. "As long as we don't have to watch it all the time, right?"

"Right."

With a grin, her future step-brother wandered away to where Liberty and their other mates were leaning against the lockers chatting. Glancing at the time and seeing that lessons were about to start, the girl decided to go to the library and work on some coursework. She knew that it was inevitable that she'd run into Barry Barry at some point, but she wanted to put it off for as long as possible and give herself more time to think about her decision.

Her mobile beeped and the teenager glanced at the message from Zoe quickly. She grinned as she read it. '_**ARE YOUR MUM AND TOM ENGAGED?! THIS IS TOO EXCITING! xxx**_' Typing a reply hurriedly, she pushed her mobile out of sight underneath her text book as the librarian sent her a very obvious glare across the room. With a sigh, Hollie put her head down and carried on working for the rest of the double lesson.

At break time when she returned to the Common Room, Hollie spotted Kevin and Connor in the corner and made her way towards them, ready to spill the news about her Mum and Tom. Seeing the expression on her boyfriend's face, she frowned.

"What's up, babe?"

"Nothing." He insisted. "Just… me and Chalky had an argument and the social worker's coming round this evening." Then his face clouded over even more. Connor glanced between them and then wandered away, giving them some privacy. "And he's hiding something from me; something big! I can't trust him! I won't live with him!"

"Babe… what's happened?"

Kevin launched into a confused and twisted story that had something to do with a laptop and photos and someone called Gareth Dinsdale. Hollie frowned as she tried to keep up with what he was telling her. The only part of his rambling that she really understood was when he asked whether he could come and stay with her for a while.

"It'll be fine. Of course you can stay at ours. I'll talk to Mum and Tom, but it shouldn't be a problem." Hollie assured him, leaning in to give him a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed softly as his hands moved to her hips and he held her tightly against him.

"Aww! Isn't that sweet?" A taunting voice came from behind her.

Recognising the voice at once, Hollie let go and turned, glaring at Barry. "Get stuffed."

"I wanna word with you, Boston." He informed her, a smirk twisting his lips.

"What about?" She challenged, hoping that he would leave it.

"You know what."

Rolling her eyes and doing her best impression of someone who couldn't be less interested, Hollie gave Kevin another kiss and smiled at him. Then she hitched her bag more securely onto her shoulder and followed Barry from the Common Room. They headed along the corridor until Barry found a deserted classroom and opened the door, ushering her inside.

"Well?" He asked, leaning against the door.

Hollie perched on a desk and folded her arms. "Well what?"

"Well do I need to start spreading the truth about you?"

She bit her lip. "I need more time. Give me a couple of days to think and–"

"You've got 'til this afternoon." Barry said firmly. "I'm being nice, here. I want an answer by the end of the day, alright?"

He pulled open the door and swaggered away along the corridor. Hollie squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her fists. She'd been hoping for a couple of days to buy herself time to work out what to do for the best. The idea of telling her Mum what Barry was trying to blackmail her into wasn't an option; Hollie had always dealt with her problems on her own and in her own way and that was a habit that she couldn't break.

Following Barry's route out of the room a couple of moments later, Hollie headed for the PRU, hoping to find Zoe. There was no sign of her friend, but Scout was perched on one of the tables flicking through a magazine. She looked up at the sound of someone walking into the room. For the first time in a long time her face didn't twist into a furious scowl at the sight of the brunette. Likewise, Hollie didn't glare at her.

"Hi…" She murmured instead, feeling totally unsure of herself.

"Hi…" Scout replied, looking equally uneasy. There was a pause as they looked at each other. "You looking for your Mum?"

"No, actually I was looking for Zoe. You don't have any idea where she is, do you?"

"I think she went somewhere with Rhiannon and Jade… they might have gone to look for Barry, I dunno."

"Barry? Why?" Hollie demanded.

Seeing the concern on the other girl's face, Scout frowned and stood up. "Hol? What's wrong?"

"Nothing… I…" Without warning, the brunette burst into tears.

Completely forgetting all about their argument and the fact they hadn't been able to speak to each other without wanting to rip the other's eyes out for weeks, Scout rushed across the room and wrapped her arms around Hollie. She guided her over to the sofas and pulled her down onto them, holding her tightly. Hollie clung on, burying her head in the girl's shoulder and letting the tears flow.

"Babe, what's happened?" Scout demanded as soon as Hollie had calmed down a little. Realising that she was reluctant to explain, the blonde smiled. "I'm really sorry about what I said about your Mum. Can we just go back to how things were before? Please?"

Hollie nodded. "I'd love that." She admitted. "I missed you… loser."

Scout grinned. "So, are you going to explain what's upset you?"

"Barry's found out some stuff about my past that I ain't told no one and he's threatening to tell everyone unless I have sex with him." She blurted out, deciding that the quicker she said it the less painful and embarrassing it would be. It didn't work. "I don't have a choice… I'll have to do it."

"What?" Her friend breathed in horror. "Hollie… what could possibly be so bad about your past that you'd actually consider cheating on Kevin… with Barry!"

"A lot of things. But I can't tell you, Scout. I just… I can't let anyone find out. Not just for me, but Mum and Tom and Josh too. And Zoe…"

"Zoe?" Scout frowned. "What's it got to do with her?"

"I knew her… we were best mates in London. She… I… it's complicated."

Glancing towards the door to make sure no one was listening in, the blonde put her hands on either side of her friend's face and forced her to look up. "Hollie… listen to me. You can't always try and deal with things on your own. I know you always had to before, but you don't now. Even if you don't want to tell your Mum you can always, always tell me."

And so Hollie did.

* * *

_**A/N: Hello you gorgeous people! **_

_**Thank you so much for reading and special thank yous to **_**MidnightCalifornia********, ********__****'****Guest**_**',**_ **********PondGirl11**_**, **_**********************Anastasia Dove**_**, **_**********DrBangelWho**_**********, **_Iceinherheart, **LucyMaxine**_**, **_**elliesimpson,**_** for your reviews for the last chapter!**_

_**x**_


	84. Chapter 84

To say Scout was shocked at what Hollie told her was an understatement. She didn't make a big deal about it, though; she simply told her friend that it wasn't as bad as she was making out. Neither of them were convinced however and the blonde was forced to agree that Hollie didn't seem to have much choice. She had suggested that Hollie told her Mum what Barry was trying to force her to do. The brunette had told her what Nikki had said while they were in Edinburgh; '_Nothing is going to spoil things for us now._'

"If this gets out think about what it'll do to Mum and Tom." Hollie said quietly, putting her head in her hands. "How are they going to be able to carry on as normal with everyone knowing…"

"They'll be fine, Hollie."

"No, they won't." Her friend insisted. "Think about it, Scout… If my Mum's trying to teach you or telling you off for something you can't tell me that you won't be thinking about what I used to do. Don't pretend that part of you won't think that she has no right to discipline you, when she had no control over me."

Scout frowned. "That's different, though. She wasn't there–"

"Yeah, you know that. Imagine what Kasey or even Rhiannon would make of it. Mum would never be able to get past what I did and teach them effectively."

"So you're going to do it?"

"I don't have a choice, unless you can think of a way of appealing to Barry's better nature. Not that he probably has one to appeal to…" Hollie sighed. They both glanced up as the bell rang. "I'd better go…"

"Don't do anything until I've spoken to you again, right?" Scout insisted as the brunette moved towards the door. "I'll try and think of a way out."

"As long as you don't say nothing to no one, yeah?"

"I promise." The blonde agreed seriously.

Hollie smiled weakly and left the PRU. She made her way to Tom's classroom for English thinking hard. Kevin was in a bad mood when she settled herself at the table beside him. On his other side Connor also seemed to be in a strange mood and Imogen was barely paying any attention to anything that was going on around her. Tom glanced around at his class in slight confusion as his questions seemed to fall on deaf ears. In the end, when he received barely any response from the teenagers, he set them a task and left them to get on with it.

It was almost a relief to everyone, the English teacher included, as the bell rang and they gathered up their things. He attempted to catch Hollie's attention, to ask what was wrong, but she didn't notice and made her way slowly towards the History corridor, still deep in thought.

Mrs McFall found that her class were equally distracted and made up her mind to have a word with other members of staff as soon as the bell went for lunchtime. She watched as they got on with their work in near silence, unused to the sight in front of her. It seemed to her that they had all fallen out or had pressing matters on their minds. As the bell finally rang, the usual excited chatter that heralded the beginning of the lunch break was absent and they filed out of the room quietly.

Hollie headed straight for the PRU. Her mother's eyes almost dropped out of her head as the brunette smiled and waved at Scout, who gave her a big hug before the pair of them and Zoe walked quickly away. The blonde had surreptitiously informed the new girl that she knew about hers and Hollie's pasts and the two had talked properly for the first time since Zoe had arrived at Waterloo Road. They found that they actually got along quite well.

"Have you definitely made up your mind to have sex with him, then?" Zoe asked as the three girls seated themselves on swings at the park. They had headed there, via the chippy, to avoid anyone overhearing their conversation.

Hollie nodded, staring at her lunch. "Yeah…"

"Look… Zoe and I were talking, right, and we decided that if you have to do this then we're not going to let Barry ruin you and Kevin. If he tries to split you up then we'll swear blind that you were with us, OK?"

"And we're going to think of a way to take him down." Zoe added with a determined nod. "No one treats our mate like this and gets away with it."

The brunette smiled. "Thank you."

"Hey… we mean it, yeah?" Scout told her firmly. "Barry is gonna pay for this."

x-x

In the afternoon, Hollie had time off at the beginning of her double Geography lesson to go to the presentation for Kevin's robot. She was pleased to see that he seemed to have cheered up considerably, although another stab of guilt hit her in the chest as she watched him. In an attempt to distract herself, she reached for one of the brownies that Rhiannon was handing round the common room, but Zoe stopped her.

"They're hash brownies, babe." She muttered, taking hold of the brunette's elbow and steering her away towards the assembly hall. "I think you should steer clear, considering."

"Good idea…" Hollie agreed with a nod, taking a seat ready for the presentation to begin.

She watched with amusement as Sonya, obviously stoned, presented Austin Healey with a plate of chocolate brownies and rambled on about various things. Her eyes found her mother, Mrs Diamond and Maggie standing at the side of the room watching the goings on in mild confusion. As Lorraine tried to pull her sister away, only for Sonya to throw up on the shoes of one of the potential investors the blonde had invited to the presentation, the three women on the side lines sprang into action. As Maggie hastily removed the brownies from the hall, the Deputy Head went to talk to Mr Byrne and Nikki headed quickly towards her daughter.

Grabbing her arm, she pulled Hollie out of her seat and over to the wall, standing between her daughter and the rest of the students, her arms folded and her face set in a serious expression. "What's going on?"

"They're hash brownies." Hollie informed her, unable to keep a smile off her face.

"Did you have any of them?"

"No!"

"If you're lying to me–"

"Mum, I didn't, alright?" The teenager almost snapped, folding her own arms. "Zoe realised what they were and told me and neither of us had any. Scout didn't either."

Nikki nodded and smiled weakly. Hollie could see the worry in her eyes. "Sorry, sweetheart. Have you got any idea who's responsible?"

"I could take a guess, but I don't know for sure."

"Right." Nodding and rubbing her arm affectionately, the woman moved away to deal with the crowd of stoned teenagers.

Hollie returned to her seat, filling Scout and Zoe in on what her mother had said. Quickly they were dismissed and they returned to their lessons, while the majority of their classmates found themselves being sent to the Cooler.

As the end of the day grew closer and closer, Hollie's stomach started churning. She heard the bell ring and dread settled over her as she realised she'd have to tell Barry that she'd decided to go along with his demands. Making her way towards the gates where she could see the boy waiting for her, Hollie felt a hand on her arm and turned, finding herself looking into Imogen's big brown eyes.

"Hol… I need to talk to you."

Seeing that it was obviously quite important, she hesitated. "Can it wait 'til tomorrow, Im? It's just there's something I really need to sort out."

Imogen nodded and released her friend's arm. "Yeah… yeah, course."

She walked away with her head down and Hollie closed her eyes, guilt sweeping through her again. Taking a deep breath, she carried on down the slope and came to a halt in front of Barry.

"Well, you got an answer for me yet?" He asked, grinning at her.

"Yeah… I'll do it… on two conditions; one, you keep your mouth shut about my past and two, you don't breathe a word of this to anyone. Understand?"

He smirked. "You have my word."

"That's reassuring." Hollie muttered. "Like your word counts for anything."

"Hey! You calling me a liar?" Barry demanded.

Hollie shook her head and scowled at him. "No, I'm saying I don't trust you."

"Well you're just gonna have to, ain't ya?"

Knowing that he was right, the girl clenched her jaw and shrugged. "So?"

"Come round to mine later."

"I don't think so." She argued, shaking her head. "I ain't going to yours. You can come to mine."

He seemed to be thinking hard. Then he shrugged and nodded. "Fine."

"Mum and Tom are going out later to some party and Josh will be at his mates', so come round at about seven." Hollie told him with a sigh.

He grinned and wandered away. Closing her eyes for a moment, Hollie pulled out her mobile and phoned Scout, knowing that she would be with Zoe. She was pleased that her two closest friends seemed to be getting along so brilliantly now that everything was out in the open. Hollie had been worried that telling Scout about Zoe's past would cause her friend to get angry, knowing that Zoe had wanted to keep that part of her life secret.

After informing them of what was happening and the two girls promising to make it look as though they were heading round to Hollie's house for seven, she hung up and made her way home.


	85. Chapter 85

"You sure you're gonna be OK here on your own?" Nikki asked, rushing round the house and getting ready to go out. She was only wearing one of her shoes and attempting to put in her earrings and find her clutch bag at the same time. "We won't be too late because it's a school night."

"Mum… I'm seventeen." Hollie reminded her from her seat on the stairs. "I've been in the house on my own before. Besides, Josh will be home from Jack's at nine and Zo and Scout are coming round at about seven to keep me company."

"I'm so pleased you and Jodie made up." Her mother said. "And I'm glad her and Zoe seem to have made friends. They're probably my least troublesome students which is a massive change in Jodie's case. You were right about Zoe; I should have given her a chance. That seems to be my problem…"

"Why do you call her Jodie? You never used to."

Nikki paused. "I don't really know… I guess it's a professionalism thing. I mean, Scout is your best friend and Jodie's my student."

"Fair enough." The teenager agreed with a shrug.

Tom thundered down the stairs and the girl leant into the banisters to stop him tripping over her. "You ready, love?"

His fiancée nodded. "Yep, let me just…"

"No!" Hollie and Tom shouted together.

"Come on!" The man laughed, pulling her out of the house before she could smother her daughter with hugs and kisses. "We'll be back at about eleven, Hols."

"Have fun!" She called as the front door closed and she was left alone. Glancing at the clock on the wall she saw that she had about half an hour before Barry arrived.

There was barely time for her to breathe, however, as seconds later she heard the sound of the key in the lock and panicked that Josh had come back early. She was further confused when her mother appeared in the doorway, frowning at her.

"You've got a visitor."

"Eh?" The girl furrowed her eyebrows, wondering who could possibly have caused that reaction in her mother. Her heart seemed to stop as she considered the possible answers to that question. "Who?"

Stepping aside, Nikki revealed Barry Barry. He leant against the doorframe smirking at her. "Alright?"

"What are you doing here?" Hollie hissed angrily.

"I thought you said to pop round at half six?" He said innocently.

She glared at him. "Why would I do that?" She demanded. "What possible reason would I have for telling you to do that?"

Nikki looked between them for a moment before putting a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Come on, Barry. See you later, Hol."

The front door closed and Hollie stayed sitting on the stairs, fuming at the cheek of the boy. She knew he'd done that on purpose so that her Mum and Tom would see him at their house. She heard the sound of the car starting and the engine faded as it drove away. A couple of moments later the doorbell rang.

"What the hell are you playing at?" Hollie spat, grabbing Barry by the front of his jacket and dragging him inside before anyone could see him.

"Eager, ain't ya?"

"I don't want anyone to see you, idiot." She snapped, folding her arms. "What was that about?"

"Got the time wrong, didn't I? Easy mistake to make."

Hollie rolled her eyes and then shrugged. "So? Let's get this over and done with, shall we?"

"Aren't you going to offer me a drink or anything?" Barry asked looking around the hallway with obvious interest. "Nice house."

"No." The girl replied bluntly, starting up the stairs.

x-x

Hollie really wanted to have a shower, but she needed to get rid of Barry first. He, however, seemed to be in no hurry to leave. Pulling her clothes on quickly, the girl ordered him to get dressed and busied herself at her dressing table while she waited for him to get ready. She didn't trust him enough to leave him unattended and kept one eye on him in the mirror.

As soon as he was dressed, she stood up and ushered him out of her bedroom and down the stairs. In the hallway he paused and smirked at her.

"What?" She demanded.

"I can see why that Gavin guy was so annoyed you'd refused to work for him again."

She scowled. "That's nice. Now I've done what you wanted you'll leave me alone, right?"

"We'll see." He told her with another smirk. Then he leant forwards and kissed her, pushing the girl up against the wall and pinning her there. After a couple of minutes he moved away and grinned. "See you tomorrow."

Hollie closed her eyes tightly as the door shut behind him. Then she pulled out her mobile and phoned Scout. "Hey… where are you?"

"We're in the park." Her friend informed her quietly. "Are you alright?"

"Can you come round? I don't want to be on my own."

Assuring her that they'd be there in five minutes, Scout hung up. Hollie went to boil the kettle to make a cup of tea. Then she changed her mind and pulled a bottle of vodka out of the cupboard and fetched three glasses. By the time the doorbell rang again she'd already drunk three.

Letting her friends in, the girl found herself being pulled into two tight hugs, one after the other. She smiled weakly at them and ushered them into the living room, handing them a drink each. Then Hollie went upstairs for a shower, standing under the almost blisteringly hot water for a long time in an attempt to wash all traces of Barry off her.

"We've been thinking about how to get revenge." Zoe informed her when she made her way downstairs and curled up in the armchair, sipping from yet another glass of vodka. "We have to separate him from his sisters. That'll drive him insane."

"How are we going to do that, though?" Hollie asked, raising an eyebrow. "They'd never turn against him. It's like they're scared of him."

"We don't know yet." Scout admitted with a shrug. "We're still working on that part…"

"That sounds promising." The brunette muttered cynically.

They all jumped as the front door opened, exchanging wary looks. Hollie immediately leapt out of the chair and grabbed the vodka bottle off the table, hiding it down beside the armchair. As the living room door opened, all three girls downed the liquid in their glasses, before turning to see who it was.

Josh grinned at them. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah." Hollie agreed at once, trying not to raise his suspicions. "You're home early?"

"Yeah… Jack had an essay to finish and then I remembered that I haven't quite finished mine either."

"If you want any help, you know where we are, eh Josh?" Zoe told him with a wink. The boy blushed slightly and escaped from the room. They heard his footsteps heading upstairs before the girl laughed. "He's so cute."

"You do realise he's gay, don't you, Zo?" Scout asked, looking a little concerned.

Zoe grinned. "Of course. But winding him up is so much fun!"

* * *

_**A/N: Any of you hoping (for whatever strange reason) to read about Hollie and Barry's… arrangement… I'm very sorry but I don't write smut. I tried once for another fic, but it was so bad that I laughed a lot and then deleted it. I've never tried since. I just can't write it.**_

_**Anyway, thanks so much for reading and thank you **_**MidnightCalifornia**_**, '**_**Guest**_**', **_**PondGirl11**_**, **_**Anastasia Dove**_**, **_**DrBangelWho**_**, **_**Iceinherheart**_**, **_**LucyMaxine**_**, **_**elliesimpson**_**, **_**x-x-abi-x-x_, _****CBurns1995 and Ordinarycasgirl**_** for your reviews over the last couple of chapters! :) **_

_**x**_


	86. Chapter 86

Over the next couple of days Hollie completely avoided Barry Barry. Scout and Zoe were pretending they didn't know anything about his arrangement with Hollie, although both girls found it difficult to act normally around him, knowing what they did. They tried to put their plan into action, but Dynasty and Kacey seemed to ignore all their attempts to turn them against their brother. After they had realised what the teachers had been trying to do, the Barrys had almost closed ranks and become even closer.

On Thursday afternoon Hollie was making her way towards the main doors of the school, intending to go home and work on a practise Maths paper in peace seeing as she was excused from PE, when someone grabbed her arm and twisted her round, pushing her up against the wall behind a pillar.

"Get off me!" She ordered furiously, trying to wriggle out of Barry's arms.

"I thought you were going to be nice to me so I'd keep my mouth shut about you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah and I was, so leave me alone!"

He chuckled and shook his head. "That bought you a week."

"What? Are you actually kidding me?"

"Nope, I'm deadly serious."

Balling her hands into fists at her sides, Hollie glared at him. "Right, whatever… when do you want to…"

"What about now?"

"Now?" Her eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Your Mum sent me on an errand; she won't notice if I'm gone for a little while."

"You can't… In school?"

"I thought girls like you liked the excitement?" Barry asked, smirking at her.

Hollie glared at him. "I'm not like anything."

He just laughed and pulled her by the hand towards the boy's toilets. The girl exhaled sharply, feeling tears springing to her eyes and glanced around to make sure no one was watching as she followed him through the door.

x-x

That evening Hollie was lounging on the sofa watching _EastEnders_ with Josh, although neither of them were taking much notice of what was going on. Nikki was sitting in the armchair with a small end table in front of her pouring over a list of some sort. Every now and then she'd let out a sigh of exasperation and shuffle the papers around or tap agitatedly at the screen of her mobile before putting it down again and continuing to pour over the papers.

"What the hell are you doing?" Her daughter asked finally as the credits of the soap rolled, almost drowned out by a frustrated growl from her mother.

"I'm trying to sort the wedding." Nikki informed them with another loud sigh.

The teenagers looked at each other in confusion at her answer.

"Wait... When are you getting married?" Josh asked.

"December 21st." Nikki told him, not glancing up from the lists on the table in front of her.

The boy frowned, glancing at Hollie again to make sure he wasn't hearing things. "So why are you stressing about this? You've got months to plan the wedding! You've got like seven months!"

"That's nothing!" Nikki almost snapped, putting her head in her hands almost as though she was trying to block out his voice. "There's so much to sort out."

"Like what?" Her daughter laughed. "You book a hotel or something, get food, music, dress and flowers… sorted."

"I wish it was as easy as you've made it sound." With a deep sigh, the woman leant back in her chair and looked at them both seriously. "We've got to confirm the date with the Church, decide where to hold the reception, plan the reception, find the dress and the bridesmaids' dresses, decide on the bridesmaids – although I think that's sorted already – flowers, seating plan, rings… the list is never ending."

"Bridesmaids' dresses?" Hollie asked with a groan, envisaging herself in some kind of 80's style nightmare dress. Then she smirked. "Can they be red? And short?"

"No." Her mother replied at once, smirking slightly. "Anyway, who says you're going to be a bridesmaid?" When the teenager arched an eyebrow, she laughed. "OK, so you're obviously going to be a bridesmaid."

"Who else are you having?" Josh asked.

Hollie grinned at him, leaning over to ruffle his hair. "Why? D'you fancy it? I think you'd look absolutely stunning in a big peach puffy dress and a tiara!"

"Get lost!" He muttered, swatting at her hands and smoothing his hair back down after her attack.

"We were thinking you, Abi, Chlo and Mika." Nikki replied, glancing down at the paper in front of her, almost as though she needed to remind herself. "And then Chlo's daughter as Flower Girl. Obviously I want Jo as my Maid of Honour too. Tom has already asked Josh to be Best Man, so that's sorted."

Hollie's mind whirred for a moment. She knew that the Abi her mother had mentioned was obviously Sam's daughter, but she had no idea who Chlo and Mika were. She'd never heard of them before. Frowning at her mother, she tilted her head to one side questioningly. "Who the hell are Chlo and Mika?!"

Her mother glanced at her distractedly. "Tom's step-daughters."

"Woah… Tom's what?"

"His step-daughters." Nikki repeated. "He was engaged to their mother when she was killed a couple of years ago and they lived with him until they left school."

"Why has no one ever told me about them before?"

"They've just never come up in conversation before."

The teenager shook her head. "Oh, right, that's fine then." She arched an eyebrow at Josh. "Did you know about Chlo and Mika?"

"Course." He said with a shrug. "They're nice. Chlo's daughter Izzie's really cute."

"Great. So I'm the only one in this family who didn't know I was technically gaining two step-sisters. Why am I always the last to know anything?" Hollie almost shouted, standing up and storming upstairs, leaving her mother and Josh staring after her in confusion.

In her bedroom, Hollie slid down the door to sit on the floor, hugging her legs to her chest. She didn't care about Chlo and Mika. She wasn't bothered that she hadn't known about them before. She knew that she shouldn't have reacted so badly to the information. The mood she was in had nothing to do with them or her Mum or Tom or the wedding.

There was a tentative knock on her door and she heard her mother calling softly. Ignoring her, the teenager stayed where she was, leaning against the wooden panel. Hollie heard the handle turning with a quiet squeak and she felt Nikki pushing against the door. The movement jolted her forwards slightly, but she didn't move. When her mother tried again, much more forcefully, with a more anxious call, she sighed and reluctantly shuffled sideways to let her in.

"Hollie?" Nikki demanded, opening the door on her third attempt and looking around wildly as though she expected her daughter to be injured. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Clearly something's the matter." Her mother pointed out gently. "Is this about… are you jealous that Tom's already got step-daughters?"

"No."

"Really? Because it's not going to change the way he feels about you. Tom's had Chlo and Mika since long before he met either of us and he still loves you."

"I said no."

Nikki glared down at her. "Fine, sulk." She shrugged. "You're so childish sometimes."

As the door slammed behind her mother's retreating figure, Hollie buried her head in her knees and let the tears that had been building up soak into her jeans. She made no sound as she cried; years of trying to stop people knowing how much she was hurting having caused her to perfect the art. When she felt that she couldn't cry anymore, she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her head, falling into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

_**A/N: Hey lovelies! Thanks so much for reading/reviewing! It's amazing to know you're enjoying this! :D**_

_**I, however, am having issues... I missed the last ep of WR, but my friend was texting me about it before I got a chance to catch up. She told me that she couldn't concentrate whenever Lorraine and Nikki were on screen because of the MASSIVE amounts of sexual tension. I told her not to be silly. It's all about Nikki/Tom, right?**_

_**WRONG. After I watched the ep, I had to agree... There is definitely some Nikki/Lorraine tension going on there! Please tell me I'm not the only one that's started accidentally shipping them against their will?! With the disgusting lack of Nikki/Tom (unless you count arguments), Nikki/Lorraine is looking like a much more promising ship. **_

_**Although Two Sides will always be Nikki/Tom. **_

_**Probably. ;)**_

**_x_**


	87. Chapter 87

"You over your little sulk?" Nikki asked the next morning when Hollie came down to breakfast. She sighed at the expression on the girl's face and held out her arms. Hollie leant into her, hiding her face in Nikki's shoulder. The woman twisted her head and pressed a kiss into her daughter's hair, stroking her back soothingly. "It really doesn't affect how Tom feels about you, sweetheart."

"I know…" Hollie muttered, not wanting to explain to her mother that her mood swing the night before had nothing to do with the shock announcement about Tom's step-daughters. She was perfectly happy to let her think what she wanted. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

Hollie smiled weakly and moved to make herself a cup of tea, closing her eyes for a moment as she turned her back on her mother. She hated hiding things from her, but she knew that it was for the best. Nikki would be so hurt if she found out what was going on. Hollie also had a sneaking suspicion that either she or Tom would do something drastic that they would regret later. Even if they didn't regret it, it probably wouldn't be a good move career wise. Besides, if all went to plan no one would ever have to know.

"Oh, and Hollie?" Nikki called, pausing as she walked out of the kitchen. "You are not wearing that skirt to school… I can see your ovaries."

"Mother!" The teenager complained, pulling a face. "Can you not say things like that, please? It's disgusting!"

"Yeah? And so is the length of that skirt."

"Alright!" Hollie muttered, pushing past her out of the room. "I'll change."

Nikki kissed her forehead. "Good girl."

Once Hollie had put her jeans on instead of the skirt her mother disapproved of so strongly, the two of them headed out to the car. Josh had a free period first and was still in bed and Tom had gone in early because he had things to sort out. Getting into the passenger seat, Hollie badgered her mother to let her drive, reminding her that she needed practice if she was ever going to stand a chance of passing her test.

To her immense surprise, Nikki grinned, shrugged and pulled over, turning the engine off and motioning for them to swap places. Instantly, the teenager backtracked. Her mother laughed, knowing that Hollie hadn't been serious about wanting to drive and started the car again.

"So, I've got that SMT meeting about the PRU tonight." The woman said, as they left the car and walked slowly towards the building. "I don't think it'll go on too long, but Tom and I will pick up something for dinner on the way home. Unless you're going out?"

Hollie shook her head. "No? Why would I be?"

Her mother frowned lightly. "Umm… because you're seventeen and it's Friday?"

"Yeah… well… I probably won't be."

"You haven't had any more arguments, have you?"

"No… course not." Hollie assured her quickly. "I just… I don't fancy going out tonight, that's all."

As the older woman shrugged, they continued towards the school. Hollie folded her arms across her chest as she saw Rhiannon walking towards them, remembering what Scout had text her about that morning. She couldn't believe that the girl could possibly have gone so soppy over Barry Barry.

"_Morning, Miss._" The red-head sighed, sounding bored before she'd even entered the school.

Nikki sighed, immediately entering teacher mode. "_Not so fast, Rhiannon._" She glanced at Hollie, who nodded and moved away to lean against the wall, waiting for her. "_I've just marked your literacy assignment. You're showing no signs of improvement._"

"_What d'you expect when I'm stuck in the sin bin?_"

"_The unit is working for everyone else._" The teacher reminded her.

Rhiannon pulled a face. "_Bully for them…_"

"_It's that sort of attitude that's not helping._" Nikki said firmly. "_You have to understand the value of your education._" She groaned as Rhiannon's attention was dragged to the boy walking past at that moment. Barry smirked at her, before winking at Hollie, who glared at him. "_Eurgh… don't be distracted by the likes of Barry Barry! I'm serious, Rhiannon. You're a capable girl and with the support of the unit you will get some decent qualifications._"

Not replying, the teenager just rolled her eyes and walked off. Nikki exhaled sharply and turned to where her daughter was still waiting. She walked towards her and smiled, pushing her hands in her pockets.

"What?" Hollie asked, knowing she was about to ask her to do something.

"Can you try and talk to her?" The woman asked. "Just… see if you get talk some sense into her before it's too late."

"Oh, Mum!" The girl complained, pulling a face. "What? Rhiannon isn't going to listen to anything I say!"

"Please, Hols, just give it a go. Yeah?"

Growling softly, she relented and nodded, allowing her mother to kiss her head before heading away in the vague direction of the staff room. Hollie turned and jogged after the red-head, catching her up just as she was about to walk into school.

Rhiannon looked at her suspiciously, before turning her back and walking away. The brunette rolled her eyes and followed, folding her arms and leaning against the lockers as Rhiannon sorted through her things. Finally, she seemed to have had enough of Hollie watching her silently and closed the locker door with a bang.

"What d'you want?!"

"I hear you and Barry are a… thing." Hollie said, unable to keep the disgust off her face.

Rhiannon smiled. "What, you jealous?"

"No!" The very idea that she was jealous made Hollie want to punch something. She just about managed to control herself, however, and shrugged. "I just think my Mum was right. Guys like Barry are trouble, Rhiannon. I know from experience."

"Yeah? Well he's different with me."

Hollie snorted. "Yeah, right. I've heard that one before."

"Why don't you just piss off and mind your own business?" The red-head snapped.

Shrugging and deciding that it was pointless trying to get her to see sense, Hollie wandered off to find someone more interesting to talk to. Dropping onto a seat beside Scout, Zoe and Harley, she quickly realised that the Rhiannon and Barry 'romance' was the main topic of conversation. As she joined them, however, her friends exchanged a look and tried to change the topic. Harley, not knowing why they had suddenly started discussing other things, stared at them.

"You seen Connor's locker?" Scout asked, nodding towards it. Hollie glanced over and read the graffiti with a frown. "He deserves it though, after what he did."

"We've all made mistakes, Scout." Hollie reminded her quietly, shouldering her bag and heading off in search of Connor. She spotted him walking quickly along the corridor and broke into a jog to catch him up, briefly wondering whether she was going to make a habit of running after people. "Hey… Con… you alright, babe?"

"Should you be talking to me?" He asked weakly.

She shrugged. "Who cares?" Pushing her arm through his she gave it a squeeze. "They're wrong. You ain't scum… you just made a mistake and you tried to put it right."

"No one else sees it that way."

"Kev does and in time other people will too. At least Im's talking to you again, right?" Hollie pointed out, smiling. Connor shrugged and nodded, relaxing slightly. "You feel up to going back that way? I've left my English book in my locker."

He laughed and nodded. Slowly they made their way back the way they'd come so that the girl could fetch her work. As they entered the room, Connor tensed and Hollie squeezed his arm again, smiling reassuringly. He looked sideways at her and she winked. Then her eyes fell on Barry Barry and Rhiannon. As he raised his hand and stroked her cheek, the brunette rolled her eyes.

"Give me strength…" She muttered, shaking her head and barging past them to get to her locker. Grabbing the book she needed, she rammed it into her bag, before pulling a confused looking Connor towards the door. "What does she see in him?"

"Why's it bothering you?" Her friend asked.

"It's not… I just… Mum asked me to try and talk some sense into Rhiannon; her work's suffering because of her stupid crush. I don't like failing, that's all. Besides, he's just gonna mess her around and it'll be us lot picking up the pieces."


	88. Chapter 88

At break time Hollie was heading back into the school with her boyfriend after their free period, when they spotted Connor walking away from the Barry sisters and Liberty, looking upset. She slipped her hand into Kevin's as they walked up the slope, glancing at him worriedly. He returned the look and they started towards him to ask what was happening, when Barry's voice caught their attention.

"Kev! Chairs need putting out in the hall."

"I can't." Kevin told him, his attention still on his best friend. "I'm…"

Barry narrowed his eyes and pushed the door open aggressively. Hollie stared at her boyfriend, willing him to say no, but Kevin just shrugged and headed inside.

"Kev!" She shouted after him.

"Aw… isn't he paying you enough attention?" Barry mocked her as she started up the steps after him. "He wouldn't pay you any attention if he knew what you've been getting up to."

"Keep your mouth shut, yeah?" Hollie hissed.

"You gonna make me?"

She scowled at him. "If I have to."

He grinned as she wrenched her wrist out of his grip and rushed after her boyfriend, deciding that her earlier question about whether today would be a day for running after people had just been answered. Hollie sighed as she entered the hall and saw Kevin setting out the chairs in rows across the room. Placing her bag beside his, she started copying his movements.

"Thanks…" He murmured, glancing up after a moment or two.

"Why didn't you just tell him to piss off?" Hollie asked.

Kevin shrugged. "It's just easier to get on with it."

"It was easier to go along with Hitler and the Nazis…" She pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Laughing, her boyfriend leant on the chair and looked at her in amusement. "Barry Barry isn't quite at Hitler standard."

"Not yet…"

They both glanced round as the doors opened. Chalky smiled at them. "Ahh! Well done you two. Just what I like to see; teenagers who aren't afraid to help out when it's needed."

As he retreated, they set out the last row of chairs just as the bell rang. Picking up their bags, the couple headed after the man towards his classroom. Hollie was only too happy at the prospect of going to the talk by the soldier in period four, mainly because it meant that she had one Maths lesson instead of a double.

The teenagers filed into the hall and took their seats. Hollie seated herself with Kevin on one side and Scout on the other, Zoe sitting beside the blonde. The noise levels rose as the sixth formers found seats and waited for something to happen. Spotting her mother at the front of the hall, Hollie frowned slightly, wondering why she looked so thoughtful.

"He's well fit!" Scout muttered, nodding her head towards the young man in army fatigues standing beside Nikki at the front of the room.

"I wouldn't say no." Zoe agreed, tilting her head slightly as she looked him up and down appraisingly.

"Your Mum doesn't look too happy." The blonde pointed out, nudging Hollie in the ribs. "Has something happened? Oh! She were in the army, weren't she? I bet they'll have had loads to talk about."

"Yeah… Mum was a Captain. She never talks about it though… not ever. I reckon she must have seen some pretty bad things. This one time, Josh was watching some war film and Mum walked into the living room, realised what he was watching and walked straight out again."

Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but Tom cut him off from the front of the hall. "_OK! It is my great pleasure to introduce a former pupil of ours, Bolton Smilie, who's very kindly agreed to come and share some of his experiences with us. Bolton._"

Applause rang out as the young man took to the stage, standing nervously behind the podium and glancing down at whatever he'd taken on with him. As his talk continued, Hollie found herself sliding further and further down in her seat. She stifled a yawn, realising that he was reading his speech.

"_Where has the army taken you, Bolton?_" Tom asked, obviously taking pity on his former pupil as he started to panic.

"_Afghanistan._"

Hollie's eyes were drawn to her mother at his words, wondering whether she'd ever been there. It was almost certain that she would have, but seeing as Nikki never talked about it, her daughter didn't know. At his word, the woman's face had paled slightly and she was biting her lip, her arms folded securely across her chest, almost as though she was comforting herself. Hollie noticed that her mother's gaze was fixed firmly on the floor and, although they were almost hidden from sight, she could see that she had balled her hands into tight fists.

"_Does anybody have any questions?_"

"Ask him if he's single." Zoe whispered, causing Scout to snort with amusement.

"Punch her for me…" Hollie muttered, rolling her eyes.

Almost as though she'd heard, Dynasty asked, "_Have you got a girlfriend?_"

As the assembled teenagers laughed, Zoe pouted. "She stole my question… cow."

"_No._" He told her firmly.

"_D'you want one?_"

Bolton narrowed his eyes. "_This country's at war. There's people dying over there; it's not a joke._"

"_Don't you ever get scared?_" Jade asked.

"_It's better to die a hero than live as a coward._" Bolton informed them hesitantly. There was something about the way he said it that made Hollie think that it was a phrase that had been drilled into him time and time again. "_That's what our Sarge says…_"

Kevin raised his hand. "_Have you ever killed anyone?_"

Hollie turned to frown at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What?"

"You can't ask that!"

"Why?"

Agreeing with his step-daughter, Tom sighed. "_Thank you, that question isn't relevant to this discussion._"

"_That's what the army does._" Barry piped up, never one to gloss over the opportunity to cause a fuss.

"_It's never something a soldier wants to do._" Miss Boston said softly, causing her daughter to look up in surprise. The idea that her mother would almost definitely have killed people during her almost ten years in the army had never occurred to Hollie before. Now, it seemed stupid that she had never thought about it. "_You have to remember it's for the greater good._"

"_Yeah, what she said._" Bolton agreed quickly.

Mr Budgen laughed mirthlessly. "_Yes and that's exactly what the Taliban would say. So what makes the British Army any better than the terrorists?_"

Hollie was clenching her fists in her lap, hearing his words as a personal attack on her mother. Likewise, Nikki was glaring furiously at her colleague, opening her mouth to reply angrily to his question.

Bolton beat her to it. "_I'm not a terrorist, yeah?_"

"_Have some respect!_" Rhiannon shouted at the English teacher, surprising everyone as she jumped to her feet. "_You don't know what it's like to lose someone._"

Sensing that it was about to kick off, Tom tried to calm the situation down. "_Alright, let's leave it there._" He suggested. "_Look, if any of you have any sensible questions about a career in the army, then I'm sure that Bolton would be happy to talk to you individually in the common room._"

Scout glanced at her as they gathered their things and stood up. "Well that was interesting."

"Yeah… I'm just gonna…" Hollie pushed past her and walked quickly towards the front of the room where her mother was leaning against the stage, looking paler than usual. "Mum? You alright? What Kevin asked… it was stupid. I punched him for it, don't worry."

Nikki smiled weakly and shrugged. "It's part of the deal when you're in the army. Everyone wants to know if you've killed people." She glanced at her daughter, suddenly realising that Hollie had never asked; neither had Tom or Josh for that matter. Perhaps it was because they sensed she didn't want to talk about it. "I have, you know."

"What?"

"Killed people."

Hollie blinked several times. "Oh…"

"Like I said, it's not something I ever wanted to do, but it was my job. I didn't have a choice; it was kill or be killed."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Mum." The teenager assured her softly. "I'm proud of you."

"Really?"

"Of course!" Hollie nodded. "Just like I'm proud of you for running the PRU. I know how tough it is, but you never give up!"

"I don't like failing, that's all." Nikki said and her daughter smiled to herself, remembering saying those exact words to Connor a few hours earlier. "Speaking of the PRU I've got a report to write for the meeting later, so I'll have to love you and leave you, sweetheart."

* * *

_**A/N: Two updates in one day?! What is the world coming to?!**_

_**I just got a bit bored! :P**_

_**x**_


	89. Chapter 89

Making her way back to the lockers, Hollie spotted Barry talking to Liberty and rolled her eyes. To her annoyance they were leaning against the lockers next to hers so she couldn't avoid them. Hearing Barry flirting with the girl made her roll her eyes. She pitied Rhiannon not being able to see exactly what he was like, especially as he was now making fun of her.

"_What's wrong with me?_" Rhiannon asked. Hollie whipped round and saw the red-head standing just behind them. As annoyed as she was with the girl, she wouldn't have wanted her to hear that conversation. "_I thought we had something?_"

"_It was a joke!_" Barry told her. "_As if I'd seriously be interested in a munter like you! Oh, and you owe me a tenner for that._"

Liberty glanced at Hollie, who shrugged her shoulders slightly, watching as Rhiannon ripped off the necklace he was pointing at and threw it at him. The Scottish girl walked away, shaking her head, but Hollie stayed. She knew that someone would need to help Rhiannon pick up the pieces and, thanks to her mother's request that morning, she felt responsible for her.

As the red-head rushed away, Hollie followed her. She thumped Barry on the chest as she passed, almost knocking into Mrs Diamond. Rhiannon made her way to the toilets and locked herself in one of the cubicles, completely ignoring all of Hollie's attempts to talk to her.

"Come on, Rhiannon… he's not worth crying over!"

"Piss off!"

"No! Just… come out and talk to me like a normal person."

"Piss off!" She repeated, kicking the door to emphasise her demand.

Hollie folded her arms and leant against the wall, deciding to wait until she emerged. A ripping sound met her ears and she frowned. "Oi, what're you doing?"

"It's all crap and Budgen's gonna fail me anyway, so what's the point!" Rhiannon mumbled, sobbing at the same time.

The brunette outside the cubical groaned. "Please don't tell me you just ripped up your English coursework because you realised Barry Barry's a twat?" The only response to her question was a loud sniff. "Look… come out and I'll help you, yeah?"

There was a long pause and then a click and the girl emerged. "Why would you help me?"

"I thought we were mates?" Hollie told her with a shrug.

"Yeah? Well I don't want your help." Rhiannon snapped, pushing roughly past her and barging out of the toilets. When the brunette followed, she glared at her. "Just leave me alone!"

Sighing, Hollie held up her hands in defeat and watched her leave. Then she shook her head and headed off in search of the others. She found Zoe in the canteen with Kevin and Connor and they informed her that Scout had had to pop home to pick up some work. After drawing the Scottish boy out of his bad mood over Imogen, the four of them messed around for a bit, enjoying their lunchtime more than they had done for a while. It was as though each of them had decided to completely forget about their problems for half an hour or so.

When the bell rang for the end of lunch they made their way to registration together and then, when they were dismissed for afternoon lessons, they separated. Zoe headed off to the PRU, Kevin made his way to Physics, Connor went to the library to complete his Chemistry homework for the next lesson and Hollie decided to head home seeing as she was finished for the day. She was halfway down the slope to the gates when she remembered that she needed to get a book from the library for her History Coursework and groaned, turning around and heading back into the school.

It took her ages to find the book she needed and then the librarian was nowhere to be found. When she eventually appeared, Hollie rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. The woman frowned and stamped the book with more force than was necessary, earning herself a sarcastic smile from the teenager.

"Oh, Hollie…"

The girl glanced up from trying to push the book into her bag at the sound of her future step-father's voice. "Tom?"

"Can you do me a huge favour and pop these in to Mr Budgen? I think he's in Mr Chalk's classroom." He asked with a smile, holding out a pile of exercise books in Hollie's direction. "I'd do it myself, but I'm in the middle of something really important and haven't got time."

"Yeah… sure." Hollie agreed with a weak smile.

"You haven't seen Bolton Smilie, have you?" He asked as she took the books from him. When the girl shook her head, he nodded and patted her arm in thanks before hurrying off.

Hollie looked down at the books in her hands, changed direction and headed towards the Maths corridor, wondering why the English teacher was there. She shrugged, deciding that she didn't really care. Reaching Mr Chalk's classroom, she saw Mr Budgen leaning back lazily in the chair with his hands behind his head.

Knocking on the door, she opened it and went inside. "Mr Clarkson asked me to give you these, Sir."

"Oh, good. More thrilling essays from year ten to brighten my day." He muttered sarcastically.

Glancing towards the desk where Scout and Zoe were sitting, Hollie rolled her eyes and smirked. They grinned back at her.

"Thank you, Miss Boston." Mr Budgen snapped, having caught her expression. "I would be grateful if you would shut the door on your way out. We are in the middle of a lesson, you know."

Grinning again, Hollie retreated from the classroom. She was almost knocked over as Bolton and Rhiannon barged into her in their haste to get into the classroom. Frowning, the teenager leant against the doorframe, too curious to leave. Sensing that a fight was about to break out, she moved into the corridor a little way, watching the scene unfolding through the window.

"_What?!_" Mr Budgen shouted, whirling round at the interruption.

"_Give it back!_" Bolton yelled, flinging off his backpack and heading straight for Barry.

"_Get out!_" The teacher ordered.

As the soldier launched himself at Barry, Mr Budgen was knocked backwards over the table. Hollie watched, knowing that she should probably go and tell someone, but too caught up in the sight in front of her to move. As Bolton pushed Barry away, Hollie's breath caught in her throat as she realised what he was clutching in his hand. She wanted to run away, but her feet seemed to have taken root.

"_Right!_" Mr Budgen bellowed furiously. "_I am gonna put you back on a plane to Afghanistan myself if I have to!_"

"_I am not going back there!_" The young man screamed in his face, his eyes bulging in his fury. "_Not you or anyone else is gonna make me!_"

He started waving his gun around and Hollie realised she couldn't breathe. Seeing the weapon was causing her mind to flood with flashbacks of her abduction. She could smell the damp warehouse, feel the intense cold and she was absolutely terrified. Hollie felt as though she was back there, watching the two men aiming guns at her Auntie Jo. She could feel the pain that had overpowered her when the bullet had ripped through her shoulder. As she struggled for breath, tears clouding her vision there was a loud bang.

She realised that Bolton had fired a shot, but she wasn't entirely sure where the bullet had ended up. Without warning, her vision began to fade. She was hot and cold all at the same time as intense panic gripped her, squeezing at her chest and stopping her being able to breathe. Hollie struggled as blackness threatened to engulf her, but it was too strong. With a crash, she fell to the floor.


	90. Chapter 90

"_But what about the gun?_" Rhiannon asked, looking between Tom and Bolton.

The man frowned. "_What gun?_"

"_His… Barry Barry's got it._"

Tom's heart seemed to stop at her words. The idea of Barry Barry in possession of a gun was terrifying. Ordering the soldier to stay where he was, the English teenager sprinted away to find the headmaster and inform him of the situation. He threw himself into the office and looked wildly at Mr Byrne who, for some reason, was staring at the empty desk in confusion.

"_Michael!_" He gasped. "_Barry Barry's got Bolton's gun!_"

Seeing his own horror reflected back at him, Tom led the way through the corridors, ordering teachers to escort their classes out of the building and congregate in the playground as they would do during a fire drill. He did his best to keep everything calm, but there was still panic as the students attempted to leave the building.

"Dad? What's going on?" Josh asked, appearing from the direction of the library. Tom had been hoping that his son would have gone home seeing as he had no lessons on a Friday afternoon, but at least he was able to leave the building safely. "Someone mentioned a gun?"

"Just follow everyone outside, son." Tom told him firmly, squeezing his arm. There was a smashing sound and then the fire alarms sounded. Glancing over at Michael, Tom pushed his son firmly towards the doors. "_Everybody outside, quickly please!_" He shouted, ushering the students to safety. "_Come on, move!_"

"_Tom, where're you going?_" Michael demanded as the man moved towards the corridor that led to where Barry Barry and the gun were.

"_I've got to get up there._"

"_No way!_" The headmaster said firmly, shaking his head.

"_Look, he came to see me. It's up to me to get him out of here._"

"_We don't have time for this, alright?_" Michael snapped. "_We play it by the book._"

"_Michael…_"

He shook his head. "_That means we get everybody out as quickly as possible._"

Shaking his head as Michael moved away and Chalky took over ushering the pupils out of the building, Tom pulled out his mobile. He dialled a number and held the phone tightly against his ear, clenching his free hand into a fist.

"Nikki!" He breathed a sigh of relief as she answered. "Thank god."

"What's going on?" His fiancé demanded. "I heard a gunshot."

"Barry Barry's got Bolton's gun… you're not with them, are you?"

"No… I was doing the PRU report."

He breathed another sigh of relief, realising that she was nowhere near the Maths classroom. "Good… just get out, Nik."

"Have you seen Hollie?" She asked.

Tom's mouth dropped open and his heart did a strange bungee jump impression; almost coming to a stop before hammering at triple speed. "Er… no… but she's got a double free, hasn't she. She's probably at home."

"OK… I'm on my way out now. I'll phone her and make sure."

As he hung up, the man took several deep breaths. Almost instantly his mobile rang again and he answered it at once. Hearing Grantly's voice in his ear he closed his eyes and asked if they were all alright.

"_We're fine._" The man assured him in a shaky voice. "_Ummm… Bolton's got a gun and he would like the alarm off._"

"OK, I'll sort it." Tom promised hurriedly. "Grantly, is Hollie there?"

"No? She was… I saw her before the gun went off but not since."

Before he had a chance to reply, the line went dead. Tom swore, putting his hands to his head and trying to think straight.

x-x

Pushing her mobile into her pocket when her call to her daughter's phone went through to answerphone, Nikki strode out of her classroom and looked around at the stampeding teenagers. "_Walk, don't run!_" She ordered, trying to maintain a sense of calm. "_Find your form teacher outside and wait for further instructions!_"

"_It came from Chalky's classroom._" Christine said in a terrified voice, coming to a halt in front of Nikki.

"_What's happened?_"

"_I… I don't know! But Grantly's in there with the PRU kids._"

There was no time for Nikki to reply, because Imogen appeared, trying to run in the opposite direction to everyone else. "_Oh my god, Connor!_" She screamed.

The two women caught hold of her tightly. Christine shook her head. "_No, Imogen!_"

"_Both of you outside, please._" The brunette said firmly, pushing her colleague and the teenager in the direction of the doors.

Nikki continued to bark orders at the teenagers that were streaming towards her in their desperation to leave the building and get away from the threat of the gun. As head of the PRU she felt responsible for the fact that it was down to one of her students that there was such a situation unfolding. Making up her mind, she strode in the direction of the Maths corridor, determined to sort things out.

Her mobile started vibrating in her hand and she fumbled with it, holding it to her ear.

"Nikki! Where the hell are you?" Tom demanded.

She stopped, suddenly realising what she was doing. Turning, she headed away from the Maths rooms and down towards the exit. "I'm on my way now."

Outside, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. "Alright?"

"Yeah… where's Hollie?"

Before he could admit that he didn't know, the doors opened and Jade and Kacey walked out. Imogen and Dynasty leapt forward, questioning them over Connor and Barry, but Michael stepped forwards and ushered them towards the nurse. As they went, Jade caught Nikki's eyes.

"Miss… Hollie…"

"What?" The brunette sprinted towards the teenager, her eyes darting anxiously. "What about Hollie?"

"She's up there… I think she's fainted or something. We couldn't lift her."

"Oh my god…"

Tom grasped his fiancée's waist, guessing that she was about to collapse herself. "This is all my fault."

"Your fault? How?"

"I asked her to take some books to Grantly… I thought she'd have been well out of there by the time Bolton arrived."

Nikki's eyes narrowed and she lashed out, smacking Tom across the chest. "You…"

She looked up and saw Imogen making a run for the doors. Michael grasped her arms and pulled her back. Seeing her chance, Nikki sprinted towards the entrance, darting inside before anyone could stop her. She ignored the shouts from outside and ran towards the Maths classrooms. Slowing down as she reached the doors that led to the corridor, she peered through the glass panel and saw the figure of her daughter cowering in the opposite corner.

Keeping one eye on the window to the classroom that was occupied by the PRU students, Grantly and the AWOL soldier, she pushed the door open and attracted Hollie's attention. Her daughter was deathly white and Nikki could see her shaking from the other end of the corridor. Signalling for the girl to crawl towards her, the woman breathed out sharply as her daughter shook her head.

"Come on, Hols… you can do it."

"I can't, Mum… he's got a gun… I… I can't…"

"You can." Nikki urged her, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. "You're proud of me, right? Well I'm proud of you and I know you can do this. You were brave enough to jump in front of that bullet and save Jo's life. Come on, Hols."

Keeping her eyes locked on her mother's, the teenager started moving slowly towards her. It was almost agonising to the woman, watching her daughter crawling across the floor at a snail's pace. When Hollie was almost within arm's length, Nikki moved forwards and pulled her the rest of the way.

As soon as she was out of the corridor, her mother wrapped her in a tight hug, rocking her gently and stroking her hair. Hollie burst into tears, shaking violently. Moving them over to the window, Nikki sat on the ledge and continued to try and comfort her daughter. She whispered reassuringly to her, telling her that she would never let anything hurt her again.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs caused her to look up sharply. Nikki watched as the military police walked into the classroom and emerged a couple of moments later with Bolton in handcuffs. As Grantly and the teenagers followed suit, Nikki stood up, pulling her daughter with her and accompanied them down the stairs.

"Are you alright?" Tom demanded, rushing over as soon as they walked outside.

"She's fine; no thanks to you." Nikki snapped.

Hollie looked between them. Then she wiped her eyes and shook her head. "It wasn't Tom's fault, Mum. I had plenty of time to leave… I could have got out just after he started waving the gun around, but I was too nosy. It really wasn't Tom's fault I had that stupid panic attack or whatever it was."

"It's no wonder you had a panic attack, love." Tom told her gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his arms. "After what you went through before, it was inevitable."

Breaking apart she smiled at him. "Maybe."

Tom glanced at Nikki and was relieved when she shot him a weak smile too. "You two get back inside…" He motioned over his shoulder towards the police car. "I'm just gonna go and see what's happening."

Nodding, his fiancée wrapped an arm around her daughter and led her back into the school.

* * *

_**A/N: So... I don't like cliffhangers, even on my own fics! So here's the next chapter!**_

_**MASSIVE thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed the last chapter already! :D**_

_**x**_


	91. Chapter 91

"Nikki?" Michael called as the two Bostons made their way through the school. "PRU meeting in ten minutes."

She frowned. "Surely that can wait… I mean, after this afternoon–"

"Lorraine wants to get it done."

Sighing, the woman turned to her daughter. The idea of being separated from her mother filled Hollie with panic. Seeing the fear in her eyes, Nikki frowned and then smiled at the girl. "You can come and sit in the classroom. If they don't like it then they can sod off. You're more important than a meeting."

As Nikki, Tom, Michael, Sian, Lorraine and Sonya settled themselves around a table at the back of the classroom, Hollie settled herself on the sofa at the other end of the room. She hugged her knees to her chest. Every time she closed her eyes she could see the barrel of a gun inches from her face and hear the crack as it went off. She could even smell the sharp scent that went with it.

In an attempt to distract herself, she focused on the conversation taking place behind her. Hollie knew that she wasn't supposed to be listening; Lorraine and Michael had both objected to her being in the room. Nikki and Tom had both refused to consider sending her out and Sian had also agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea, knowing what she did about the teenager's abduction and seeing how she had reacted to a gun in the school.

"… _why don't we take it out of the funds we ring-fenced for the PRU?_" Lorraine suggested.

"_What?_" Hollie could hear the confusion in her mother's tone as she questioned what she'd heard.

"_I'm closing the unit._"

"_But the report…?_"

"_Gun in class? Nikki it was one of your students. Anyone else would have handed it in._"

Hollie wanted to point out to the woman that any of the other PRU students would have handed it in as well. Only Barry Barry was deranged enough to think that keeping a loaded gun he'd stolen out of a soldier's backpack was a sensible idea. She kept her mouth closed, however, pretending not to be listening because she knew her interference would not go down well.

"_Lorraine, I know that what happened today doesn't look good, but the report shows that our pupils are making academic progress._" Michael reminded her.

"_Let's not be hasty._" Tom agreed. "_This isn't the fault of the PRU_"

"_Sorry, decision made._" Lorraine said bluntly.

The sound of her heels on the floor made Hollie turn around and glare at her. She wanted to make sure the woman knew just how hard her Mum was working to ensure the teenagers in her class were making progress. Lorraine looked at her for a moment and then turned away, searching for something in her handbag on the table.

"_Rhiannon._" Michael sighed, drawing everyone's attention to the girl who had just entered the classroom.

"_Can I hang this picture of Bolton in the PRU?_"

"_There isn't gonna be a PRU anymore._" Lorraine informed her briskly.

The girl stared around in horror. "_What? You can't close it! Without it I'd have dropped out ages ago._"

"_Sorry, Rhiannon._" Nikki muttered, the disappointment and feeling of failure evident in her voice.

"_I wanna do something worthwhile with my life, like Bolton._" The teenager said pleadingly. "_I know I don't have what it takes for the army, but I can still make something of myself. I need my education._"

Hollie twisted in her seat to watch interestedly as the conversation continued. Her mother seemed to have gained a new sense of determination from Rhiannon's words. "_She can only do that through the PRU. Please, Lorraine, it's more than teaching._"

"_I say it's working._" Michael said.

There was a pause. "_Very moving. Will you pass your exams?_"

"_I'm gonna try._" Rhiannon assured the woman.

"_One last chance._" Lorraine agreed. "_It's all about the exam results. I'm not convinced… prove me wrong._"

Nikki nodded and her daughter could almost see the cogs whirling in her mind as she tried to think of a way to do just that. Michael stood up quickly. "_And do I find the money for the counselling from elsewhere?_"

"_No._" The blonde sighed, shaking her head. "_I've got this._" As she turned to leave the classroom, she pointed at Hollie, the ghost of a smirk on her lips. "Considering how you reacted this afternoon, you're going at the top of that list."

As Michael, Sian and Sonya gathered up their things to leave the meeting, Rhiannon wandered across the classroom and paused in front of Hollie. She smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry about what I said at lunchtime."

"What was that?" The brunette asked innocently, pretending not to remember their argument and smiling at her.

Rhiannon grinned. "So… is that offer still there? To help with my coursework."

"Course." Hollie agreed seriously. "But… can we do it tomorrow? I just want to go home tonight."

"Definitely… thanks."

The red-head smiled and left the unit. Hollie waited for her mother and Tom to collect their things, before they all headed out of the school and got into the car. On the drive home, all through dinner and for most of the evening the teenager was almost silent. She couldn't close her eyes without remembering the feeling of having a gun waved around. When Josh left to meet his friends, he slammed the front door and Hollie jumped, gripping the arm of the sofa instinctively.


	92. Chapter 92

Nikki and Tom were concerned about Hollie's behaviour over the next couple of days. Scout and Zoe came round on Saturday morning and the woman let them in with a smile. They headed up to Hollie's room, but the girl's mother heard them leaving about half an hour later. Frowning in confusion, she went upstairs and knocked on Hollie's door, wondering whether she'd left without saying goodbye. Instead, she saw the teenager lying on her bed watching television.

"They didn't stay long." She said conversationally, perching on the end of the bed and glancing at the television. "Aren't you doing anything today?"

"Don't fancy it…"

"Oh. Are you ill or something?"

"No. I just don't feel like going out."

As her attention remained firmly fixed on the television, Nikki sighed and left the room. She sneaked a final look at her daughter before she closed the door and headed back downstairs frowning.

Tom glanced up from his laptop as she entered the kitchen and tilted his head questioning at the thoughtful expression on his fiancée's face. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Nik?"

She shrugged and flicked the switch on the kettle. "Hollie turned down the chance to go out with Zoe and Scout. She's watching _Saturday Kitchen_ instead. When has Hollie ever been interested in cookery shows?"

"Maybe she's just too tired." Tom reasoned. "She was awake most of the night, and so were you."

Nikki nodded slowly, throwing tea bags into hers and Tom's mugs. She hesitated for a moment and then got her daughter's mug out of the cupboard too. It was true; they had been woken up just after two by the girl screaming in her sleep. Nikki, having not long gone to bed, had rushed into Hollie's room and pulled her into her arms. Gradually the teenager had woken up, blinking around in confused terror until she realised where she was. It had been hours before Hollie relaxed enough to fall asleep again, but even then she talked in her sleep and Nikki caught odd words and phrases that made her realise that her daughter was having nightmares involving guns. Rather than let her thrash around and get more and more agitated, the woman woke her daughter, stroking her hair gently and rocking her until she calmed down.

"Did Michael mention when the counselling sessions might start?" Nikki asked, glancing over her shoulder as she continued to make the tea.

"No… he said it depended when Lorraine sorted the funding. Hollie's definitely going to get some help, though."

Placing his mug on the kitchen table, Nikki leant down and kissed him gently, before carrying Hollie's mug upstairs. She received a quiet thank you as she set it down on the teenager's bedside cabinet, but Hollie's eyes were still glued to the cookery program and she made no other sign that she knew her mother was there.

x-x

As her class filed out at lunchtime on Monday, Nikki stifled a yawn and took a large gulp from the mug on her desk. Her face twisted in disgust as the cold liquid slid down her throat. Picking up the mug and grabbing her bag, the woman left the unit and made her way slowly towards the staff room.

Hollie had gone out on Saturday night and stayed at the School House with Zoe and Scout, but when she returned home she was quiet and unresponsive. She had barely slept the night before; every time she fell asleep she would have a nightmare and wake up everyone with her screaming. Gradually, the screaming stopped, but Nikki found that she couldn't sleep properly knowing that her daughter was suffering.

Smiling at Audrey, who was sitting with Chalky and Grantley over by the window, Nikki signalled that she was about to put the kettle on and silently asked whether anyone else wanted a drink. All three nodded and smiled, so the woman set out four mugs on the surface. Nikki turned and leant against the counter with her back to them, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Then she opened her eyes again, dangerously close to falling asleep standing up.

"Ah! Nikki! Just the woman I was looking for." Lorraine's voice was clear above the low-level chatter in the staffroom. As usual she had her phone firmly in her hand and was tapping at the screen as she moved towards the brunette. "I've spoken to the counsellor we're getting in to talk to the kids after the whole gun thing and she can see Hollie tomorrow afternoon. Michael's spoken to Audrey and she's agreed to let Hollie go an hour early."

"It's fine; she's not in any danger of getting behind." Audrey piped up from her seat between the two male teachers.

"Err… Right…" Nikki nodded, not really sure what to say. She wasn't impressed that Lorraine had announced that Hollie needed to see a counsellor in front of the entire staffroom, or that Michael had told Audrey about it before consulting her. "Well thanks."

The rest of the day passed far too slowly. When they finally got home, Nikki informed her daughter about what had been arranged for the next day. The teenager was far from happy, but agreed to give it a go when she saw that her Mum and Tom thought it might be a good idea.

Mr Byrne had set aside a spare classroom for the counselling sessions to take place. Hollie was excused from her double History an hour before the end of the day, as arranged. Everyone sent her questioning looks as she stuffed her things into her bag and left the classroom, but neither she nor Mrs McFall said anything about where she was going.

The teenager walked slowly towards the room she'd been told to go to. Knocking on the door, she waited for the woman to call her inside before entering. The counsellor was a middle-aged woman with long, mousy brown hair and a round smiling face. Hollie's first thought when she looked at her was that she could easily have been a children's entertainer or someone who lived in a tent and wandered around bare foot.

"Hello, you must be Hollie?" The woman asked, her voice quite high pitched and her Scottish accent very heavy. "It's lovely to meet you."

"Yeah… you too." The girl replied, not meaning it at all. As the woman signalled for her to take the seat opposite hers, Hollie did so.

"My name's Julie Frasier. Miss Donegan's asked me to come in and speak to you about something that happened here on Friday afternoon. Anything you say in this session is completely confidential; nothing will leave this room."

"Yeah… I know." Hollie agreed with a nod.

"So, it must have been frightening." Ms Frasier said, looking expectantly at the teenager, a notepad balanced on her crossed knees.

Frowning, Hollie wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to say to that. "Umm… yeah?"

"Can you tell me about it?"

"Why?"

The woman looked taken aback, as though she hadn't expected the teenager to question her request. "Well, talking about situations we find stressful, that scare us, can help us to understand why they affect us so deeply."

"It's obvious why it affected me." Hollie told her with a shrug. "The guy was waving a loaded gun around."

"Well, yes. But examining the deeper feelings behind your reactions might help you to understand–"

"What does that even mean?"

Ms Frasier blinked at her. "When something happens, we react instinctively. But on a deeper, subconscious level, all of our actions have a meaning that–"

"I had a panic attack and I fainted." Hollie said with a shrug. "I was scared and I panicked; perfectly natural reaction in my opinion."

There was a long pause as the woman scribbled something on the notepad on her lap. Hollie resisted the urge to lean forward and see what she was writing. Instead she leant back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest, almost glaring at the woman. For a couple of minutes Ms Frasier scribbled furiously on the paper and Hollie just glared at the top of her head.

Movement outside the room caught her attention and the teenager glanced up. She spotted her mother hovering outside the classroom, watching her through the glass. Nikki mouthed something and smiled reassuringly. Hollie smiled back and then sighed, realising that she had to try and make the best of the situation for her mother's sake.

"So… I think I reacted so badly because it wasn't just the fact that he was waving the gun around." She admitted with a sigh. "I was abducted and held for three weeks at the beginning of the year." The woman's eyebrows shot up, but she said nothing. "My Auntie's a detective and she found us. The men were threatening to shoot her, but I got in the way. I got shot in the shoulder and had to have an operation."

"Right… That certainly explains your reaction." The woman agreed, laughing nervously.

She asked questions about the abduction and Hollie tried to answer them as honestly as she could without getting annoyed. She didn't understand how some of Ms Frasier's questions were relevant at all, but went along with it. Every couple of minutes, Hollie's eyes flickered towards the clock on the wall and she was pleased when the end of the session crept gradually closer.

With five minutes to go, when Hollie was sure the session would be winding down, the counsellor asked her a question that totally threw the teenager. "How do you feel about your mother's absence in your early years?"

"What?"

"You mentioned that you hadn't long been living with your mother before your abduction and you were both anxious about it because you barely knew each other. How does her not being around when you were a child make you feel?"

"I dunno… upset, I guess." Hollie replied with a shrug. "But she's around now."

"Do you blame her for the things that have gone wrong in your life?"

The girl clenched her jaw. "No."

"Do you feel that the fact she wasn't around in your most important, formative years has had an impact on how you behave now?"

"No."

Ms Frasier glanced up as the bell rang for the end of the day. She smiled. "That went quickly!"

"Yeah…" Hollie agreed, not thinking that it had gone quickly at all. She couldn't wait to leave.

"So, I'll have a word with Miss Donegan and Mr Bryne and see about sorting you out another session, alright? I feel like we were really starting to get somewhere towards the end of the hour."

"Yeah… right…"

Smiling weakly, the teenager grabbed her bag and escaped from the room, heading straight for the PRU to complain about the woman to her mother.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! :D**_

_**I just wanted to say again that I like reading what you want to/think will happen in the next chapters. I'm not deliberately ignoring your comments, I just tend to write quite a few chapters in advance so I can't always get stuff in - for instance, I'm writing chapter 99 at the moment! I do try to take your comments into account, but it might not be straight away! :)**_

_**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! **_

_**x**_


	93. Chapter 93

The next lunchtime, Hollie was making her way from her Maths lesson up to the PRU. She had a free after lunch and had completely forgotten to print her English essay for the last lesson. She frowned as she realised her mother wasn't in the room and wondered where she could have gone so soon after the end of the previous lesson.

Turning, intending to see if her Mum was in the staffroom, the girl found herself looking into Barry's smirking face. She sighed, knowing what was coming and folded her arms.

"I'm not doing it in the toilets again." She told him firmly.

"Nah…"

"There won't be anyone at home now."

"There's a cupboard over there." Barry said, grinning.

"No way."

He raised an eyebrow and Hollie sighed. As she exhaled sharply and walked towards the cupboard with an air of resigned acceptance, he laughed. "That took a lot of persuasion. You're starting to enjoy this, aren't you?"

"Get real." She snapped. "I just want this over and done with as soon as possible."

He laughed again and followed her into the cupboard, pulling the door closed behind them. In the dark, Hollie clenched her jaw as she felt his hands tugging her shirt out of her skirt and running his hands around her back. Tilting her head to one side as he kissed her neck, Hollie thought she heard something from the other side of the door.

"Barry…" She hissed, swatting at him.

"What?" He murmured.

"Stop!"

"Don't be stupid!"

"No… there's someone out there!"

He moved away slightly and they both listened carefully. There was definitely someone in the classroom. After a couple of seconds, footsteps came towards the cupboard and Hollie tensed.

"Nikki, you free for lunch?"

"I've got loads to do, babe." The girl's mother said, her voice muffled by the door. Hollie held her breath, squeezing her eyes closed and hoping that they remained undetected. "I need to sort out the presentation details for Friday afternoon."

"That'll keep!" Her fiancé told her firmly. There was a pause and then a soft giggle. "We'll have the house to ourselves…"

"That's gross!" Barry muttered and Hollie punched him, worriedly biting her lip. She was too worried about being caught in her mother's cupboard with Barry Barry to be disgusted by the thought of her Mum and Tom having sex.

"Alright, let me grab my bag…"

They waited until they heard the door close with a loud click and then a couple of moments more, just to be safe. Then Hollie opened the door and emerged from the cupboard. She leant against the wall and took several deep breaths. The truth had been so close to being revealed. And it would have been if her mother had opened the door to the cupboard; if Tom hadn't come into the room at exactly the right moment; if he hadn't persuaded her to go home with him.

Barry grinned at her, pushing his hands into his pockets. "Exciting, eh?"

"No." Hollie snapped, shaking her head. "No. This has to stop."

"You know what that'll mean." He threatened, his eyes narrowing.

Hollie's eyes filled with tears as her desperation grew. She was in too deep now; she should have told her mother straight away. Now it was too late for that. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I can." He said casually.

As he strode from the PRU, letting the door close behind him with a soft click, Hollie squeezed her eyes tightly closed and balled her hands into fists at her sides. She couldn't deal with seeing anyone and made a decision without thinking about it.

Making her way out of the unit and along the corridor, she snuck out of the school through the back exit and walked briskly down the hill into town. She decided that a couple of hours on her own, trying to forget about everything was the best way to deal with the things going on inside her head.

Glancing up as she examined a couple of tops on a rail in a clothes shop, she spotted a large security man eyeing her suspiciously. Frowning, the teenager turned away, knowing that he suspected her of being a shoplifter. It was a look she knew all too well. Moving away from the tops and round the side of another display, her hand darted out and grabbed a jumper off the shelf closest. Quick as a flash she stuffed it in her bag. Seconds later she walked round the other side of the display and was unsurprised to see the guard still watching for her.

Sending him a rude gesture, she held her head up and stalked out of the shop. Hollie didn't even want the jumper she'd taken. Seeing the expression the man had been regarding her with had ignited something inside her and she'd reacted. Yes, the girl had reacted badly; she knew that. But he had looked at her the way so many people had done in the past and Hollie reacted in the only way that made sense to her at that moment. She had never quite grasped the concept of not proving people right in their negative assumptions of her.

Fuelled by a mixture of adrenaline, anger and shame, Hollie headed into the chemists next door. A short while later she emerged with three eyeliners, five nail varnishes and a tube of toothpaste. Thinking about it the teenager acknowledged that the toothpaste had been a panic grab after realising that she had attracted the attention of the staff on the tills. Leaving the chemists, she went into the jewellery shop opposite and left with several pairs of earrings, a couple of necklaces and a chunky beaded bracelet.

Deciding to push her luck, Hollie walked through the automatic doors of HMV. For a couple of minutes she browsed the albums in the racks. Her eyes fell on the new album of the band that Josh had recently decided he was in love with. Glancing over her shoulder surreptitiously, she picked it up and glanced at the back, pretending to be reading the track list. In one fluid motion she slipped it into her bag, grabbing another CD instantly and staring at it. Putting the album – a Westlife CD from the late '90s – back in the rack, she moved casually along the aisle. Shouldering her bag, she moved towards the doors.

"Excuse me, Miss." A gruff voice said jut behind her.

Hollie didn't wait to see what he wanted, sprinting out of the shop. She dodged between the shoppers in her way, hearing the man shouting angrily after her. Not stopping until she was clear of the town centre, Hollie leant against a wall, before bending double as she gasped for breath. She knew it was wrong, but the risks she had taken made her feel alive again.

Once she'd caught her breath, the teenager made her way home slowly. She glanced at the time on her phone as she unlocked the front door and so that it was midway through fifth period. They would be wondering where she'd got to. Opening the messages she'd received, she typed a reply, copying and pasting it to each recipient; '_**Wasn't feeling very well so I've come home. See you tomorrow. X**_'

It was a relief that her Mum and Tom didn't seem to know she wasn't at school.


	94. Chapter 94

Hollie's mobile rang just under an hour and a half later. She glanced at the display and saw her mother's name. With a small sigh she accepted the call and held the handset to her ear.

"Hi, Mum."

"Hol? What's wrong? Jod- Scout said you were ill?" Nikki demanded worriedly.

"It's nothing serious." Her daughter assured her hurriedly. "Just felt a bit sick, that's all. I'm feeling much better now."

"Right, OK. Well we shouldn't be too long. I've got a few things to finish up here and Tom needs to check something about the football team with Michael, but then we'll be on our way home."

"Alright." The girl agreed calmly, pulling herself into a seated position. "What are we having for tea? Want me to cook?"

There was a chuckle from the other end of the call. "Who are you and what have you done with my daughter? You really are ill, aren't you?"

Hollie laughed too. "I'm fine. So? D'you want me to do anything?"

"No, don't worry sweetheart. Tom's making chilli."

"Brilliant." The teenager said with a grin. "I'll see you in a bit then."

As soon as she hung up, Hollie made her way upstairs and opened her bag. Pulling everything she'd acquired that afternoon out, she looked at it for a moment. Then she shifted through it. The bracelet she set aside for Zoe, along with the CD for Josh, a pair of hooped earrings for Scout and a necklace with a tiny heart locket pendant for her Mum. She looked at the tube of toothpaste and smiled, deciding to give it to Tom as a joke.

Then Hollie pushed the jumper into a drawer, the remainder of the jewellery into the box on her dressing table and the makeup into her top drawer. Satisfied that she wouldn't be found out, the girl changed quickly and went back downstairs, lounging on the sofa and flicking through the channels on the television until she found something to watch.

Soon after, the front door opened and laughter reached her ears. Hollie heard footsteps on the stairs and the living room door opened. Nikki smiled down at her, placing a cool hand on her forehead and checking for a temperature. Pulling herself into a seated position, the teenager shuffled over so that her mother could sit beside her. Nikki wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Anything interesting happen today?"

Hollie narrowed her eyes slightly. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Is there a reason you were too ill to stay at school, but you're fine now?" Her mother asked.

"No. I just felt sick and now I don't."

"If you're sure..."

"I am."

Nikki shrugged and stood up. ""Alright, then."

She stood up and headed out of them room to get changed out of her work clothes, leaving Hollie wondering whether she knew more about was happening in her daughter's life than she was letting on.

Nervously the girl followed her mother's route upstairs, going into her own bedroom and picking up the CD from her bed. She knocked on Josh's door, waiting for him to respond before going in. Perching on his bed as he swivelled his desk chair to look at her, she smiled and held the album out.

"I got you a present, Joshie boy."

He smiled as he took it, flipping it over to read the track listing on the back. "Cheers, Hol! When did you get this?"

"Earlier."

"I thought you were ill." He reminded her with a grin.

"I was... shopping cured me."

"You said you were skint the other day. How did you afford this?"

She tensed slightly. Then she shrugged. "I found some money."

"Hol?"

"I need to go and start my English essay. Catch you in a bit." She said hurriedly, standing and leaving his bedroom.

x-x

The next morning, Hollie found Zoe and Scout in the Common Room discussing whether _EastEnders_ or _Coronation Street_ was better. She dropped onto the sofa beside the blonde and listened to their conversation in silence. When they ended it, both girls turned to her with curious expressions on their faces.

"Ill, were you?" Zoe asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I needed to get away from this place." Hollie told her with a shrug. She rummaged around in her bag and handed them the presents she'd set aside for them. "See, I thought of you."

Scout grinned at her, immediately replacing the studs she was wearing with the hoops. Zoe, however, glared at her suspiciously.

"How exactly did you afford these?"

"I just did." Hollie said noncommittally. "If you don't want it–"

"Are they nicked?"

Scout glanced at her, wide-eyed. "You never?"

"No!" Hollie replied unconvincingly.

"Hollie! I knew this would happen if you saw Gavin again!" Zoe groaned. "First the Barry situation and then the other night and now this... you have to stop."

"There's nothing to stop!"

"Hollie!"

Grabbing her bag, the brunette stalked away angrily, leaving her friends staring after her. There was silence for a couple of minutes and then Zoe spoke.

"We have to tell Miss Boston."

Scout nodded. "How, though? She's gonna be gutted."

"It's better than letting Hollie self-destruct. I've seen her like this before. It'll only get worse if we don't stop her."

"Right... let's go now. The sooner we tell her the better."

"I don't think we should tell her about Barry. Not yet, anyway." Zoe said slowly as they made their way through the corridors towards the PRU.

"What? Why?"

"She doesn't need to know about that. Miss Boston will know that Hollie needs help without us telling her about him. I think it's just too much all at once."

Slowly the blonde nodded in agreement. Their friend was going to have a tough enough time without people knowing about her and Barry as well. If they could keep that one quiet then it would definitely be a good thing.

Knocking on the door to the unit, both girls felt a stab of guilt in their stomachs as their teacher glanced up and smiled cheerfully as she saw them through the glass.

"Morning, girls, you're eager, aren't you? There's ten minutes before the bell." Nikki said, letting them in and returning to what she was doing at her desk.

"It's not... We need to tell you something." Zoe started.

"About Hollie." Scout added.

Nikki's head snapped up and she stared at them. The concern was evident on her face. "What's happened? I knew something wasn't right."

"She's... OK. Well… sort of. Last weekend, when she stayed at ours... she wasn't meant to. We didn't know anything about it until she turned up at four in the morning."

"What?" The brunette breathed, horrified at the information.

"She was stoned." Scout told her teacher bluntly.

Nikki's face fell even further, if that was possible. "Are you sure?"

The girls nodded. Pulling the bracelet out of her pocket, Zoe held it out. "She gave me this this morning and she gave Scout those earrings. I asked her how she afforded them and she didn't explain, so I asked if they were nicked and she got all defensive. We're worried about her, Miss."

"I need to go and talk to her." Nikki muttered distractedly. "Where is she?"

"Dunno… she just stormed off." Scout admitted with a shrug.

"You could ask Josh; he generally seems to know where she is."

Nodding, Nikki headed quickly out of the unit and along the corridor in search of her step-son. She spotted Josh at once, sitting at one of the computers in the Common Room with his headphones in. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she alerted him to her presence. Josh jumped and pulled out the earphone closest to her so he could hear what he was saying.

"Have you seen Hollie since you got to school this morning?" Nikki asked quickly.

Josh shook his head. "Why? Is she OK?"

"I don't know." The woman admitted, chewing on her thumbnail and looking around, almost as though she was hoping to spot her daughter hiding behind a bookshelf or one of the sofas. "Zoe and Scout came to tell me she's been acting oddly lately. They think she's been shoplifting." Seeing the look of realisation that crossed the boy's face, she frowned. "What?"

"Hollie gave me a CD yesterday. I said I thought she was skint and she said she'd found some money and left really quickly."

Nikki closed her eyes and exhaled sharply. "We need to find her."

"I'll go and get Dad."

x-x

Hollie left school without permission and without telling anyone for the second time in as many days. This time she didn't head for the shops, but went down to the beach instead. Pulling out her iPhone she put on her headphones and turned the volume up as loud as she could cope with it. Then she settled herself on the wall with her legs dangling down towards the sand and stared out at the waves. There was something about the constant shifting motion of the sea that she found reassuring.

The girl wasn't sure why, but she felt wrong. Everything was wrong. There was no reason for it; she had no right to feel the way she did and do the things she did. She had family and friends, people to look out for her, a home and a future. Tom and Nikki were getting married. Maybe one day they'd have a baby of their own. There was so much in her life to be thankful for. But Hollie always managed to mess it all up.

Sitting on the wall, she considered the idea that she was just naturally bad; that there was something in her that made her mess up so badly. It would be so easy to blame her mother for abandoning her, her grandparents for the way they'd treated her or her friends for leading her astray. But Hollie knew it wasn't them. She'd been given a second chance and, for a while it had been going so well. But then things had started to go wrong and she'd gone back to her old ways. She'd let her Mum and Tom and her Auntie Jo down. She'd let everyone who'd had faith in her down.

Staring out at the sky far in the distance above the sea, Hollie realised she couldn't bare it anymore.


	95. Chapter 95

There was just enough money in Hollie's account to get a train. She settled herself in a double seat with her legs curled up underneath her and stared out of the window. The scenery flashed past, but she didn't take much notice of it. When she had made both her changes and been travelling for just over three hours, she pulled out her mobile and switched it back on. Immediately it began to beep, gaining her a fierce stare from the old man in the seat opposite hers. Glaring back at him, she flicked the switch on the side and turned the volume off. Ignoring all the messages and missed calls, she composed a message to her Mum, apologising for letting her down, telling her she was alright and promising that she would let her know where she was when she sorted herself out. Then she plugged her headphones in again and leant back against the seat, closing her eyes.

Her mobile vibrated and the song faded, alerting her to an incoming phone call. Hollie rejected it and the song returned to its former volume. The process was repeated every couple of minutes until Hollie realised her mother wasn't going to stop ringing. She quickly composed another message telling her that, as much as she loved her, she needed time to think and wasn't going to answer the calls. As soon as the message was sent, the battery died and her phone turned itself off.

Hollie sighed and pushed it into her school bag. She turned and stared sightlessly out of the window, wishing the journey would hurry up.

Finally she heard her stop being called and stood up, making her way unsteadily towards the doors as the train slowed to a halt. The piercing beeps that signalled the doors opening caused the girl to wince. And then she was heading quickly through the unfamiliar station, following the signposts towards the exits.

Pulling out her purse, she scrabbled around counting her change. Realising that there was probably no way she had enough to get a bus, let alone a taxi, she bit her lip and looked around.

The information office was just to her left and she made her way towards it, shrugging her bag further up her shoulder as she walked. Smiling at the grumpy-looking man behind the desk, she leant against it.

"Excuse me. Can you tell me how to get to Prestwich?"

"You on foot or driving?" He demanded gruffly.

"Walking, unless there's a bus or something." She answered with a soft sigh.

"You'll have to get the Metrolink to Prestwich station." He said, reaching across the desk and pulling a timetable out of the display stand. Unfolding it, he showed her the times of that particular line. "Where are you going from there?"

"Cavendish Road."

He grabbed a bus timetable and looked at it for a moment. "Well, you'll need to walk from the station, I'm afraid… there's no bus route."

"Oh…" The teenager frowned slightly, wondering how she was going to find her way there. Ordinarily she would have used her mobile, but since the battery had died that wasn't an option. "I don't suppose you know the way?"

"Give me a minute." The man tapped away at his computer for a moment. Soon there was a whirring sound and he stood up, returning to the window and holding out a printed sheet of paper. "Directions from the station to Cavendish Road."

Hollie smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you so much."

"You might want to hurry. The next tram goes from platform two at three minutes past seven."

Seeing that she had seven minutes, Hollie grabbed her bag and the directions and shot him a final grin, before following the signs towards platform two. Scrabbling around in her purse, she just managed to scrape together the £3.40 she needed for her ticket. The woman at the desk raised an eyebrow at the collection of coins that the teenager dumped on the desk and sighed as she counted out the money. Taking her ticket, Hollie leapt onto the tram and found a seat.

The journey wasn't particularly long, but it was tense as the teenager wasn't sure when she was supposed to get off. When her stop finally arrived, she was off the tram in no time, looking around for the exit of the station. Glancing at her watch she saw that it was half past seven. By the looks of the map the man at the station had printed off for her, it would probably take about half an hour to get to where she was going.

With a sigh, Hollie started walking.

x-x

When she finally arrived, just after eight, the girl found that there was no one in. There were no cars parked on the drive and the house was silent and empty. With a sigh, Hollie sat down on the doorstep and prepared herself for a long wait. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. After what seemed like hours in the same position, she turned her head so that her cheek was pressed against her knees instead and stared at her bag which was sitting beside her on the step.

Hollie had no concept of time and how long she waited on the doorstep. Finally the crunching of tyres on gravel caught her attention and she looked up. A smile appeared on her face as she met the eyes of the woman behind the wheel.

Climbing to her feet, she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and waited for the woman to reach her.

"Hollie? What are you doing here?" Jo asked, pulling her cousin's daughter into a tight hug. "Is your Mum with you? Why are you wearing your uniform? Is something wrong?"

Not knowing which question to respond to first, and not really wanting to answer any of them, Hollie just smiled and hugged the woman again, clinging to her tightly. After a moment or two, Jo gently disentangled herself and looked at the teenager carefully. Saying nothing else, she wrapped an arm around her and unlocked her front door with one hand. She pushed Hollie in front of her through the hall and into the living room.

"Does your Mum even know you're here?" Jo asked when they were both seated on the sofa looking at each other.

"No." Hollie admitted in a small voice. "I let her know I was OK, but then my phone died."

"Why are you here?"

A look of hurt briefly flitted across Hollie's face, quickly replaced by a harder, closed expression. "You said I was always welcome, Auntie Jo."

"And you are." Jo assured her quickly, reaching out and taking the girl's hand. "But why now? Why today?"

"I... I needed to get away. I needed time to sort myself out."

Jo frowned. "What d'you mean?"

"I've done something really stupid." The girl admitted shakily. "I've done a couple of really stupid things."

"I think you'd better tell me." The detective told her firmly. Then she stood up and walked across the room, picking up the receiver of the landline from its cradle. "After I've spoken to your Mum."

Hollie nodded. "Tell her I'm sorry and I love her."

"Tell her yourself." Jo said, but the teenager just shook her head tightly. Jo sighed, turning away as her cousin's fiancé answered the call. "Tom, it's Jo. Yeah, thanks... Hi, sweetheart. Hollie was waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home from work. Hmmm? No. She's fine... well, a bit upset. I don't know. Really? OK. I'll speak to you later. Oh… Hollie wanted me to tell you that she's sorry and she loves you. Yeah, OK. You too, Nik."

"Is she OK?" Hollie asked quietly as the woman replaced the handset and returned to her seat on the sofa.

"Not really."

"Oh..."

"What's going on, Hollie?" Jo demanded. The fierce stare she sent the teenager made it clear she wasn't going to accept excuses or tolerate lies. "Your Mum is going out of her mind worrying about you. She mentioned something about drugs and shoplifting?"

Hollie closed her eyes and winced. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyelids but ignored them, not feeling like she had the right to cry. "Like I said, I've done some stupid things. I didn't know Mum knew…"

"Start talking then."

"Auntie Jo..."

"If you like we can wait for Sam to come home and you can tell both of us?" The detective threatened, knowing that the girl wouldn't want Sam to hear what she had to say.

Hollie sighed. "I was fine... I thought I was fine. Then... then someone found out about my past and he threatened to tell everyone if I didn't... if I didn't do what he wanted."

"Oh, Hols..."

Now she'd started, the teenager didn't want to stop until she'd said everything she needed to. "So I did. But it wasn't enough... He kept threatening to tell everyone. I should have said no, I should have told Mum. But it was too late and everything was spiralling and I was losing control." She took a deep breath. "There was a gun in school. One of Tom's old students came to talk to him about something, but he'd run away from the army and his gun got stolen from his bag. Bolton, the soldier, lost it and ended up taking Mum's class and Mr Budgen hostage. I was there. Not in the room… just outside. I saw the gun and it reminded me of..." She touched her shoulder instinctively, not needing to say the words for Jo to know what she was talking about. "I couldn't breathe... it got so hot and I couldn't... I couldn't move. Suddenly it was like this infinite blackness was suffocating me."

"Hollie..."

"Since then I haven't been able to sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see the gun, hear the bang, feel the darkness closing in on me and I get so, so scared. They sent me to a counsellor, but she didn't help. She made me talk about my childhood and tried to get me to bitch about Mum. I don't know why I did it, Auntie Jo. I really don't. The drugs and the shoplifting and... everything. I don't want to be that Hollie anymore. I want to be the Hollie that you and Mum and Tom and Sam can be proud of."

"You were. You are." Jo told her firmly. "You always will be."

"How can I be? Whenever something good happens I ruin it. It's like I can't help myself."

"No. You can't think like that. You're letting yourself think that; you're giving yourself an excuse. You can help yourself, Hollie, it's your choice how you handle situations." The detective reminded her. She sighed. "Have you eaten today?" When the teenager shook her head, Jo stood up. "Let's go and get a takeaway. Sam'll be home soon."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you so, SO much for reading this guys!**_

_**Massive thanks and hugs to **_**elliesimpson**_**, '**_**Guest**_**', **_**LucyMaxine**_**, **_**Ordinarycasgirl**_**, **_**CBurns1995**_**, **_**Just A Mad Woman With A Box**_**, **_**Anastasia Dove**_** and **_**jadelou96**_** for reviewing! You guys are awesome! :D**_

_**Also... I have no knowledge of Manchester or the Metrolink, so thanks to Google for that!**_

_**x**_


	96. Chapter 96

"I don't know what to do, Tom." Nikki admitted in a quiet voice, shaking her head and staring at her hands that were clenched in her lap. "How do I handle her? I thought she was happy, I thought we were moving forward and she was settled."

She had found someone to cover her class that afternoon and spent her time trying to work out where her daughter had gone. Hollie's phone had been unreachable until about half past five, when she had received a text from the teenager saying she was sorry and telling her she was OK. Nikki had called her straight back but, after a couple of rings, it went to answerphone. She tried several times, but she just kept getting the voice asking her to leave a message. Hollie had text her again, saying she loved her, but wasn't ready to speak to her yet. Not giving up, Nikki phoned her daughter's number yet again. That time it didn't even ring.

Her fiancé sighed as she put her head in her hands and let out a long breath. "Nik... Hollie's been through so much in her life. 'Handling' her was never going to be simple or easy or straightforward." Tom reminded her, moving to sit beside her on the sofa.

"I know how to handle the likes of the Barrys and Jodie and Rhiannon and all the other PRU students, but I don't have a clue what to do about my own daughter. Something must have sparked all this; the drinking and stealing and drugs."

Tom pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her tightly. He wanted to make Nikki feel safe and less alone than he knew she was feeling now. "She's got a lot of issues, love, there are lots of things Hollie has to come to terms with and move past before she can even start to feel normal. You can't treat her like any other misbehaving teenager."

"I thought she was starting to feel normal. I thought she was moving on."

"Hollie's good at lying. She's an expert at convincing people to see what she wants them to see." Sensing Nikki getting angry at what she perceived as an attack on her daughter, Tom sighed. "She had to be like that before and it's her natural way of dealing with things now. Nik... you know how much I love Hollie; I would do anything for her. If I could stop her hurting then I would. But I can't. And neither can you."

"She's my daughter, Tom. I've failed her."

Dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, Tom lingered, his lips pressed to her hair. He breathed in deeply, the scent of her shampoo filling his senses and calming him enough to allow him to think clearly. She was sobbing into his chest, her tears soaking his shirt.

"You haven't failed her, Nikki. If you give up on her now, you will fail her. She needs you to be strong and be there for her. Hollie's seventeen; she thinks she understands life and the world. At the moment she thinks she's in control. But everything's gonna crash down around her and she'll need you more than ever."

"When, Tom?" Nikki demanded, pulling away from him and sitting up straight. "When will she need me? How much worse is it going to get before then?"

"She let you know she was alright, Nikki. That's something. She hasn't frozen you out completely."

The woman looked as though that wasn't at all comforting, but before she could argue, the phone rang. The couple jumped and looked at it for a few long seconds. Neither said anything, but both Tom and Nikki felt their stomachs churn in nervous anticipation about what they might hear.

"Tom Clarkson." He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed when he recognised the voice as Jo's. He had half been hoping that it would be Hollie phoning. "Oh, hi, Jo. I'm guessing you want to speak to Nikki?"

The woman sighed and held out her hand for the phone as Tom handed it over. "Hi, love. You alright? She… she's where? What the hell is she– Is she alright? What? Why? What's happened? Oh… well her friends told me today that she's back on the drugs and she's been shoplifting again. I don't know what to do…" Nikki sighed and chewed her bottom lip in agitation. "Thanks, Jo. Did she? Right. Tell her… Tell her… Tell Hollie everything's alright. Thanks, Jo. Love you."

"Hollie's in Manchester?" Tom asked, frowning as his fiancée replaced the handset in the cradle. "What's she doing there?"

"She's run to Jo, again. Why does she always go to Jo? She told her about everything that happened to her and now she's gone to her again. I'm her mother, not Jo."

"Everyone knows that, love."

Standing up, the woman shook her head and exhaled sharply. She shook her head in disbelief, moving towards the kitchen. "Really? Are you sure about that, Tom?"

"What? Don't be stupid, Nikki. Hollie's ridiculously protective of you; she won't hear a word against you! Yes, before you say it, she'd probably be the same if she heard someone slagging off Jo, but she's proud that you're her Mum. She adores you." He told her firmly, striding across the room and grabbing hold of her shoulders. Tom turned her round forcefully and stared into her face. Her eyes widened slightly in alarm at his expression and the man sighed, pulling her into a hug. "I bet you anything Hol's gone to Jo's because she didn't want to upset you."

"How does that work?" Nikki demanded, wrenching herself out of his arms and physically pushing him away. "She ran away, didn't tell me where she was going and told my cousin things she would never have told me."

"You know Hollie didn't have much choice about that; Jo already knew." Tom reminded her.

The brunette shrugged. "She still wouldn't have told me."

"That's not a reflection on you, babe. She wouldn't have told anyone."

"Then that's the problem, isn't it?" Nikki told him. "That's what needs to change."


	97. Chapter 97

When Jo and Hollie returned from their walk to the Chinese takeaway, Sam's car was parked beside her girlfriend's on the drive. Pulling out her key, Jo unlocked the front door and led the way inside. The radio was on in the kitchen and Sam was obviously singing along, much to Jo and Hollie's amusement.

"Babe?" Sam called, breaking off part-way through the chorus. "Jo, is that you?"

"Yeah, love, it's me." The brunette called back, dropping her keys onto the table by the front door and making her way through the hall towards the kitchen. Turning just before she entered the room, she realised that Hollie was hesitating and motioned for the teenager to follow her. "You OK? Anything interesting happen at work after I left?"

"Mmm..." The older woman murmured noncommittally. "Who's is the bag on the sofa? It's not one of Abigail's is it?"

"No, it's not Abi's." Jo agreed. "It's Hollie's."

"Hollie's?"

"Yup." Her girlfriend nodded, pulling the teenager into the kitchen in front of her and resting her hands on her shoulders. She gave them a reassuring squeeze as she felt Hollie tensing.

"Hi, darling!" Sam beamed at her and moved forwards to give the girl a hug. "It's lovely to see you. What are you doing here, though? Is your Mum with you?"

As she peered into the hallway, as though expecting to see Nikki hiding behind them, Jo smiled weakly. "I'll explain later, babe. In the meantime, we got Chinese."

They settled down to eat, chatting about family and school and work as they did so. When they had finished and Hollie had insisted on doing the washing up, they went into the living room to watch a film. The teenager could tell that Sam was dying to ask questions, but she restrained herself.

Finally Hollie had enough of the curious tension that had been growing between the three of them all night and said that she was tired. Smiling, the two women both stood as she did. Sam picked up the teenager's school bag and followed the other two upstairs, making sure Hollie remembered where the bathroom was and getting her a towel out of the airing cupboard. Jo leant her a pair of pyjamas and her phone charger, so that Hollie could charge her mobile. The teenager hugged them both tightly, intensely grateful that they were being so kind.

"Take Abs' room, sweetheart. She's taken Harry to stay with a Uni friend tonight and won't mind if you sleep in there. It's much more comfortable than the spare bed." Sam assured her with a smile. "Sweet dreams, darling."

Kissing both women on the cheek, Hollie headed to bed, calling goodnight over her shoulder. She knew that the second she was out of sight Sam would be badgering Jo for answers about what Hollie was doing there. The girl knew that her Aunt would tell her girlfriend everything and Hollie was a little nervous about how Sam would react. Sam was a police officer through and through; it was a very rare occasion that she removed the DI hat completely.

Hollie changed into Jo's pyjamas, grateful that they were shorts and a vest otherwise her hands and feet would have completely disappeared. Climbing into bed, she pulled the covers up tight under her chin and stared at the ceiling. If she strained her ears, she could hear the low murmur of Sam and Jo's conversation. Hollie was unable to make out words or phrases, but from the tone of the voices she knew that they were discussing her. The girl sighed and rolled over, curling into a ball and staring into the darkness.

For a long time she just lay there, unable to sleep while she wondered what they were saying. Finally she heard the living room door opening and the sound of footsteps on the stairs. There was a chuckle, a high pitched squeal and then the sound of their bedroom door closing.

x-x

"Morning, sweetheart." Sam said cheerfully as the teenager made her way into the kitchen the next morning. She stood up, sucking jam off her thumb and moving to flick the switch on the kettle. "Tea?"

"Thanks." Hollie nodded gratefully, leaning awkwardly against the kitchen counter.

The blonde popped a tea bag into a mug and turned to look at her. She smiled at the sight of the teenager who was dressed in a vague approximation of her school uniform; her skirt rolled up, her shirt untucked and the top couple of buttons undone and her cardigan pulled over the top with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. Sam was reminded of her own daughter at Hollie's age. Abigail had been exactly the same as the brunette; thinking she knew everything and could handle things her own way without needing help. When Abi had been seventeen, however, she had been brainwashed into a relationship with a much older man and fallen pregnant with her son. At least, Sam thought, Hollie had come to them.

"Go and find something in Abigail's wardrobe to wear." She instructed as the switch popped up on the appliance behind her and signalled that the water had boiled. "She won't mind and it's better than you wearing your uniform."

Hollie nodded and retreated upstairs. When she came back down, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Sam ushered her into a seat at the table and set a mug of tea and a plate of toast in front of her. The blonde detective took her own seat once more and sipped thoughtfully from her mug of coffee. She considered the teenager as she picked at her breakfast, realising that Hollie was waiting to see what she would say.

"Sleep well?" She asked at last.

"Not really." Hollie admitted quietly. She looked up, tilting her head so that she was watching Sam through her fringe. "I'm guessing Jo told you…"

"Yeah, she did."

"I'm sorry, Auntie Sam."

The detective shrugged and shook her head. "Sorry's just a word, Hollie."

"I know…" The teenager replied, looking down at her hands. "I don't know…"

"I know you've been through a lot and I know Jo and Nikki have to take some of the blame, amongst others, but they can't take all of it. You have to take responsibility for your actions, Hollie. No one made you do most of the things you're apologising for. Seeing you like this… your behaviour; you're punishing them over and over again. You are punishing everyone that loves you with your selfishness."

Hollie looked taken aback at the abrupt change in Sam's tone. While she was used to being shouted at, she wasn't used to the intense disappointment in the blonde's voice. It was that which affected her most deeply. She bit her lip. Although she had been telling herself that her actions had been to protect her mother, Hollie knew that she hadn't been entirely truthful. Sam was right, she had been selfish and she needed to start taking responsibility.

"What can I do?" She asked, determination creeping over her face as she met the woman's eyes. Sam smiled. "What can I do to make things right?"

"Jo and I talked about it last night. We thought it might do you good to see the other side of the law."

"What d'you mean?"

Standing up, Sam picked up the plates and mugs from the table and carried them to the sink. "Work experience, Hollie."

The girl frowned. "What?"

"We thought that seeing the consequences of your actions might help you realise that it's not just you that suffers. We phoned your Mum and she's agreed that it might do you good." The blonde dried her hands and turned, leaning against the counters and watching Hollie carefully. "Jo and I have been asked to go down to London on Monday to liaise with Sun Hill CID on a case. That's where she is now, sorting out the details with our Superintendent and clearing it for you to come with us."

"But… but… I can't? I've got school and…"

Sam shook her head. "Nikki's dealing with that. She thinks that if Jo and I agree to give a talk at the school, your Headmaster might agree to give you a week off."

As Hollie opened her mouth to ask more questions, the sound of the front door opening distracted them and they both turned to see what Jo had to say about what she'd just been discussing with her boss.


	98. Chapter 98

"Right, I spoke to the Guv and he phoned through to Jack at Sun Hill. Jack said that as long as we're happy to take responsibility for Hollie while she's there it won't be a problem." Jo informed them, gratefully accepting the mug of tea that her girlfriend passed her. "He's going to have a word with DI Manson and Smithy and try and convince them that this is a good idea; sort of a crime prevention strategy."

"Smithy?" Hollie asked, her ears perking up. "Inspector Smith?"

"You remember him, do you?" Jo asked, arching an eyebrow. "Well you would, I suppose; you saw enough of him when you were younger."

"He was fit."

The detective let out a frustrated sigh. "Hollie, this isn't a joke."

"No, I know that. But he was fit."

"You have to take this seriously." Sam told her firmly. "Jo and I are putting our necks on the line here. Our reputations are at stake if you mess this opportunity up. We want you to see how your actions affect everyone else." She held up her hands as Hollie opened her mouth to complain. "I know you've started to realise, but you need to see first-hand where you could end up."

The teenager bit her lip, trying not to let her angry tears out. She knew Sam had a point, but she didn't want to admit it. As the two women started making arrangements, she sat in sulky silence listening.

It was decided that Jo would drive Hollie up to Greenock straight away so that she could talk through the details with her cousin and possibly even pop into the school to speak to Mr Byrne about what was going to happen. Sam was going to stay in Manchester and work on the case, making sure everything was settled ready to liaise with Sun Hill CID. Hollie said nothing as they checked she was happy with what was going on, merely nodding and moving through to the living room to watch TV while Jo packed quickly.

They set off at about ten o'clock. Jo was adamant that they'd be in Greenock by about half past one. Sending a sly look sideways at the teenager, she informed her that they should be back in time for Hollie to attend her counselling session that afternoon. Hollie growled quietly and pulled a face, causing the detective to chuckle in amusement.

As she had guessed, they arrived just after half past one. Jo parked her car in the school car park and motioned for Hollie to get out. Reluctantly the teenager followed as her Aunt strode towards the building, vaguely remembering the way to the headmaster's office.

"Auntie Jo…"

"Don't start, Hollie." The woman warned her. "You have to do this." She nodded seriously, before entering the office and smiling at Sonya, who looked curiously between them. "Hi, Jo Masters; I'm here to see Mr Byrne."

"If you'd like to take a seat, I'll just see if–" Sonya started, but the office door opened and the man appeared.

"Ah, DS Masters?" He held out his hand and shook hers, ushering her into his office. "Come in. Hollie, wait there, please."

With a sigh, the teenager took a seat and leant back. She folded her arms and stared at the ceiling, deliberately ignoring Sonya's questioning gaze. Jo seemed to be in Mr Byrne's office for hours. Finally the door opened again and Hollie sat up quickly, her eyes darting to the doorway.

"Thank you, Mr Byrne. I really appreciate your understanding and I know Nikki does, too." The detective told him seriously, shooting him a grateful smile. "I look forward to seeing you after the holidays."

"Thank you for agreeing to give a talk." The headmaster replied with a warm smile, shaking her hand. "Now, Hollie, I've agreed to the time off on condition that you're back for your English exam on Friday afternoon and you give a presentation to the Sixth Form and PRU about what you've seen and done when you come back to school after half term."

"Ummm… right. Thanks."

"I never realised you were so interested in joining the police."

Hollie glanced at her Aunt sharply and Jo sent her a small smirk. "Oh, yeah, well… it was that or dog grooming…"

"Really?" Mr Byrne raised an eyebrow and the woman beside Hollie cleared her throat.

"Well, you'd better get to your counselling session, Hollie." Jo said with a nod. "Don't wanna miss it, do you?"

"No." She muttered, looking as though missing it was exactly what she wanted to do.

"Feel free to make yourself at home in the staff room, Jo." Mr Byrne offered. "I know Nikki's teaching, so you might as well help yourself to tea or coffee. If you're lucky there might even be a few biscuits around."

"That sounds like an offer I shouldn't refuse." The detective laughed, allowing him to lead the way.

x-x

As Hollie left the classroom where she'd spent the past hour avoiding the counsellor's questions, she found Scout and Zoe waiting for her. They grabbed her arms and almost marched her along the corridor. When they got outside, they sat on the wall and watched the other students filing out.

"Where've you been?" Scout asked after a couple of minutes. "You never replied to our messages."

"Sorry… I went to Manchester to see Auntie Jo and Auntie Sam."

"Yeah, we bumped into your Mum and DS Masters in the corridor." Zoe said with a shrug. "That's how we knew where you were."

"Sorry… my head was a bit…"

"Guess what?" Scout exclaimed, moving on from her annoyance of her friend disappearing without saying anything.

Hollie grinned, relieved that the blonde didn't care that she hadn't said anything. "What?"

"I've decided what I want to do at Uni; I'm gonna be a teacher. Your Mum's really helping me with all the stuff I need to pass the exams and all the teaching stuff. She's been dead great."

"Good…" The brunette nodded. When Scout frowned at her less than enthusiastic response, she smiled. "That's great… I'm so glad you've worked it out. That makes one of us!"

"You gonna apply to Uni next year or what?"

"No idea." Hollie sighed. "Mum probably wants me to…"

"And that's a bad thing?"

Frowning, the girl shrugged. "Did I say that?" She snapped. Then Hollie sighed. "I just don't know what I want to do yet. Uni seems like a lot of pressure… then there's all the debts and not getting a job at the end of it…"

"So what you gonna do, then?" Zoe asked.

"I dunno! But for now I'm going to London with Auntie Jo and Sam on Sunday. Apparently it'll do me good to do some work experience with the cops."

"Not… not in Sun Hill?" Her friend asked, frowning as Hollie nodded. "But… they know you. You've been banged up there so many times."

"That's why it's a good idea, according to Auntie Sam. They reckon it'll make me realise the error of my ways and I'll be a good little girl from now on."

Scout looked at her carefully. "What? And you don't agree?"

"I don't see how running round with a bunch of coppers is gonna change things. I'm just… bad."

"You're not, Hol. You're just…" The blonde trailed off uncertainly. "Have you spoken to Imogen? She's been asking where you are constantly. Apparently she wanted to tell you something but you were busy and she hasn't really seen you since."

"Oh, guilt trip me, then…" Hollie muttered. Zoe sighed, knowing that there was no point arguing the point. Whatever they said now wouldn't make the tiniest bit of difference to their friend's mood.

"What? No… I were just…"

"I was joking."

As Hollie rolled her eyes, Zoe decided to change the subject to something completely neutral. "Alison's having a party tonight if you fancy it? It might do you good to have a laugh for a couple of hours, especially if you're going away for a bit."

"Yeah, alright." Hollie agreed, sliding off the wall as she saw her mother and Jo approaching. "I'll meet you at eight."

* * *

_**A/N: I know that they're on Easter at the moment… but I'm a little ahead, so it's half term instead! :)**_

_**Also, I want your HONEST opinions guys... I was planning on making this fic about Hollie's whole year at Waterloo Road - so starting on her first day and ending on the last day of the summer term - but I didn't anticipate just how long it would get! Basically what I'm asking is do you think I should stick to that plan, or end it before then? I'm gonna go on majority vote, so let me know!**_

**_As always, thanks to everyone for reading and hugs to _jadelou96_, _CBurns1995_, _fanficpro_, _ .M_, _LucyMaxine_, '_Guest_', _Fazzzzzza_, _elliesimpson_, _Ordinarycasgirl_, _Iceinherheart_ and _Anastasia Dove_ for your reviews over the last few chapters! :)_**

**_x_**


	99. Chapter 99

Nikki wasn't happy about letting her daughter go out, but Tom and Jo persuaded her that she had to trust Hollie sometime. Their theory was that if Nikki let her take responsibility and let her know she was trusting her to behave, then Hollie was more likely to do so.

Things between the woman and her daughter had been incredibly tense since Hollie had arrived back in Greenock. Jo had broken the news that they were back while the teenager was with the counsellor. Catching up with her outside, Nikki had hugged her daughter tightly, but was hurt that the girl seemed nervous and jumpy.

"Be back by one." Nikki said as Hollie headed towards the front door. Once it shut, she glanced towards Tom and Jo who were sitting on the sofa watching her. "Is this a good idea?"

"Maybe not." Tom shrugged. "But if you don't let her go you won't know."

x-x

The sound of the party could be heard from the other end of the street. Hollie had met Scout and Zoe at the School House as planned and together they walked to Alison's. Maggie had told the girls they needed to be back by midnight, so Hollie thought she'd definitely be able to meet her mother's curfew with no trouble.

"Hollie!" Imogen raced across the room and hugged her tightly. "Where've you been the last two days?"

"Nowhere special… just sorting out this work experience thing I'm doing next week." She explained quickly, shooting a look at her friends.

"Work experience?"

"Yeah, with the police."

Waving off her friend's attempts to draw more information out of her, Hollie reminded Imogen that they were at a party and wandered off to find some drinks. She passed Barry leaning against the wall chatting up one of the year 13 girls and pointedly avoided his eyes. Nevertheless she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head as she located the kitchen and grabbed two alcopops for Scout and Imogen, a can of cider for Zoe and a lager for herself. Making her way back through the crowded hallway, she felt a hand close around her wrist and turned to see Barry looking at her curiously.

"I hear you're going away for a while." He said, a strange expression on his face.

"A week. Why?" She scowled at him. She had liked Mrs Diamond and was angry about his treatment of her. If anything, she was impressed with the teacher for smacking him. "D'you want your payment to keep your mouth shut in advance?"

There was a pause and then his face hardened. "Yeah."

"Not now… later."

Without waiting for him to reply, she pulled away and stalked back into the living room, locating her friends and handing over the drinks. When Imogen commented on how long it had taken her, Hollie just laughed and said she'd got side-tracked. Zoe and Scout exchanged a look at that, guessing who had demanded her attention. Before they could question her, however, Connor, Kevin, Josh, Liberty and Jack joined them.

Hollie got steadily drunker all evening. Her friends lost track of how much she'd drunk, not being anywhere near sober themselves. Somewhere around half past eleven Zoe laughed as her friend scrambled to answer her phone, dropping it and swearing loudly. Hollie squinted at the screen and then shoved the mobile back into the pocket of her jeans. Zoe's eyes narrowed as, a moment later, the brunette stood up unsteadily and claimed she was heading to the toilet.

Pushing her way through the intoxicated teenagers, Hollie made her way upstairs, opening doors as she looked for the room where Barry was waiting for her. He pulled her inside the bedroom and closed the door, pushing her against it. Secretly Hollie was relieved to be able to lean against the solid surface in case she fell over. For a moment they just looked at each other.

"You're going to miss me, aren't you?" Hollie asked quietly at last. A small smirk twisted the corners of her lips. "This whole thing… it isn't about you not telling everyone my secret anymore, is it?"

"I dunno what you're talking about." Barry replied, more gently than she had even heard him speak before.

He leant in and kissed her, moving his hands to grip her hips tightly. After a moment, Hollie pushed him away and smirked. "Whatever." Stalking past him, she sat on the end of the bed. "Make sure you lock the door."

Hollie pulled off her top as he walked towards her. She frowned and looked away as his eyes moved to her shoulder, lingering on the scar that was still clearly visible there. Feeling his hand moving lightly over the puckered skin, before doing the same to the scar on her stomach, Hollie flinched involuntarily. Barry put a finger under her chin and tilted her head so that she was looking at him.

"What happened?"

She laughed mirthlessly. "God you are pissed. Anyone would think you actually cared about someone that isn't you or your precious family." Looking away again, she shuffled backwards. "You wanna watch that, Barry, or people will start talking. Let's just get on with it, shall we?"

"Hollie…"

"What? You changed your mind? Brilliant, I'll go and have another drink."

She slid off the bed and stared at him defiantly. Barry looked at her for a moment and then shook his head, grabbing hold of her and kissing her passionately. Hollie kissed him back, again quite glad someone or something was supporting her as the alcohol surged through her and made her head swim alarmingly.

They toppled backwards onto the bed just as the door opened. Barry turned his head slightly and then leapt up, making Hollie frown at him.

"What are you–" She started. Then she realised the reason for his actions. Her mouth dropped open and for a moment she was frozen. She sobered up in a split second and grabbed her top, pulling it over her head hurriedly as she rushed from the room. "Kev! Kevin! Wait!"

Ignoring her, Kevin was pushing his way down the stairs and towards the front door. By the time Hollie caught up with him, he was heading away down the road. She reached out to grab his arm, but he shook her off. Turning to face her, Hollie saw instantly how hurt he was. Tears sprang to her own eyes and she felt her lip wobbling as she tried to stop herself crying.

"Kevin, I'm so, so sorry…"

"Sorry? What? Were you so drunk you didn't know what you were doing?" He demanded. "Did he force you? Trick you?"

"No… I… It wasn't…"

"Oi, Kev!" Barry's voice came from just behind her, making the teenager jump. "Sorry about that, mate. Couldn't resist… wouldn't have been polite to say no, would it?"

As Hollie turned to look at him furiously, Kevin pushed past her obviously intending to punch the taller boy. Hollie leapt forwards, grabbing him and trying to pull him away. Barry was bigger and stronger than Kevin, not to mention not adverse to throwing his weight around. He would flatten him.

"Don't!" She shouted, trying to stop him. Kevin pushed her aside roughly. "Please!"

He stopped and glared at her. "Stay away from me."

As Kevin turned again and strode off along the road, the girl's legs collapsed underneath her and she crumpled. At once Barry's arms were around her, hoisting her up.

"Get off me!" She whispered, too full of emotion to shout. "You did that on purpose! I told you to lock the door… I hate you! I never want to see you again! Go ahead and tell everyone; I don't care!"

"I'm sorry." He replied quietly. "I thought it was locked. I promise you I didn't mean for this to happen." As she shook her head, tears streaming down her face, he smiled. "Come on… let's go and find something to calm you down."

x-x

Nikki was watching the clock. There was a whole hour before Hollie was supposed to be back, but she couldn't relax. With all the disappearing acts her daughter had been doing lately, the woman was worried that something was going to happen. Jo and Tom were on edge too, but they were doing their best to stay calm.

Tom had pointed out that Scout, Zoe, Josh and the rest of their friends were there to keep an eye on things and weren't likely to let anything happen to Hollie. It hadn't done much to reassure Nikki, but she had settled for a while to watch a film. When that ended, Jo sensed her cousin getting jumpy and forced her into a conversation about the wedding, coaxing her to tell her all about the arrangements.

When Tom's mobile rang at just before twelve, she looked at him anxiously. The man glanced at the display and felt his heart hammering as he saw his son's name. He told them it was Mika calling, not wanting to freak Nikki out before he knew what was wrong, before excusing himself quickly to take the call in the kitchen.

"What's happened, son?" He demanded urgently.

"Stay calm, OK." Josh told him.

"It's fine, Nikki's with Jo in the other room. What's Hollie done?"

"I think she's taken something. I'm not sure what."

Tom frowned. "You what?"

"She might have been spiked, Dad." The teenager said, not wanting his father to instantly think the worst of Hollie. "She's all over the place."

Thinking quickly, Tom grabbed his jacket and keys. "I'm on my way." He ducked into the living room. "I lied, I'm sorry. That was Josh."

"Hollie…"

"I'm going to get her, Nik. Jo… keep her here." He ordered, darting out of the room before his fiancée could stop him.

He raced round to the house where the party was being held and slammed on the breaks, causing the car to screech loudly as it came to a halt. Josh, Scout and Zoe were in the front garden with Hollie; the girls holding her upright and Josh trying to get her to drink from a litre bottle of water.

"Get her in the car. I'll drop you home on the way." He said, helping them manoeuvre Hollie towards the vehicle.

"I dunno what happened, Sir." Scout told him, looking upset. "One minute she was there, the next she was gone." She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Here's her phone."

"She had a message… just before she vanished." Zoe told him quickly, hoping she was doing the right thing.

Tom looked at the mobile and then pushed it into his jacket pocket. Once they had dropped the girls at the School House, he took Josh and Hollie home, wondering what they were going to do with the teenager.


	100. Chapter 100

"I didn't take anything!" Hollie shouted for the fourth time. She had been dragged out of bed early and sat on a chair in the kitchen. Her mother, Tom and Jo were all staring at her in disbelief at her protestations, clearly convinced that she was lying. "I swear I didn't."

"So how did you end up in that state, then?" Nikki demanded furiously.

"I was drunk!"

"I've seen drunk and that wasn't it!"

Standing up, the girl shook her head. "I don't know what you want me to tell you!"

"The truth, Hollie!"

"I am telling you the truth!" Hollie shouted.

"So where were you?" Jo asked, the quiet calm of her voice a massive contrast to the fury of her cousin's.

The teenager was thrown by her question. "What?"

"Scout said that you disappeared for about half an hour. Where were you?"

"I…" Hollie thought for a moment, shaking her head. "Nowhere… Scout must have made a mistake."

"Zoe said you got a text just before you disappeared. Who was it from?" Tom asked. At once all three women turned to look at him.

"Hollie? Who was it?" Nikki demanded.

She shrugged. "I can't remember!"

"Where's your phone?"

"I don't know!" The teenager said with another shrug.

"I've got it." Tom told them.

He walked into the hall and returned a moment later and handed the phone to his step-daughter. Hollie opened her messages and found the one in question. Her face went even paler as she realised who it was from and what it said. Seeing her reaction, both Nikki and Jo made to grab the handset off her; Nikki only marginally quicker than her cousin.

'_**I'm waiting upstairs. Hurry up, I'm getting bored. B.'**_

"Who's 'B'?" She asked, showing the message to Jo and Tom. "Hollie! Answer me!"

"Barry."

"Barry Barry?" Tom asked, his face contorting in disgust.

"What the hell is going on?" Nikki demanded. She saw her daughter eyeing the kitchen door and obviously plotting her escape. "Don't you dare! You're going to tell us everything."

"About what?"

"Don't act innocent with me, Hollie Joanne Boston, you know exac–"

"Innocent?" Hollie shouted angrily. "I'm not innocent. I've never been innocent. And you wanna know about me and Barry? He was interested and he's fit so I thought why not?"

"Why– Why not? You have a boyfriend? Barry's trouble? I thought you hated him? Those good enough reasons to steer clear? What is wrong with you?"

To their immense confusion, Hollie started to laugh. "What's wrong with me? Well, you know what they say; once a whore, always a whore. I just can't help myself." She folded her arms and smirked at Tom. "Maybe I'll try it on with Tom next? Or what about Mr Byrne? Or…" She grinned at them, waving her arms around exuberantly, "maybe I'll take a leaf out of Auntie Jo's book and start on girls."

"What…?"

She shrugged and pointed in the direction of the door. "Yeah, Miss Donegan's pretty fit, ain't she? You know what? I might just go and make a start now. No time like the present, eh? I mean, there's the population of Greenock minus 2 and you lot to get through."

As Hollie made her way out of the kitchen, the three adults exchanged bewildered looks, trying to work out what had triggered the sudden outburst from the teenager. Then Nikki heard the front door opening and raced to close it. She slammed into the wood, pinning her daughter against the surface in the process.

"I might be a whore, but incest is a bit far…" Hollie told her bluntly.

Nikki stared at her for a moment, her face screwed up in devastation. Then she backed off, shaking her head. "Stop saying you're a whore."

"What, I am. If you get paid for it then you're a whore."

"Barry was paying you?"

"You are kidding?" The teenager snorted. "Nah… he never paid me. He didn't need to."

Throwing her hands up in the air, Nikki turned away and shook her head. She turned back to look at her daughter. "I don't get this, Hol. Something has happened… something's going on and I don't understand why you're not being straight with me. I don't understand why you're being like this!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The attitude… the shoplifting… getting drunk… drugs… sleeping with Barry Barry…" The woman listed the things that were bothering her. "Running away… it's got to stop. All of it. It's got to stop now."

"Why are you bothering?" Hollie asked quietly, her eyes filling with tears. "Seriously, why? Is this some guilt thing… because you weren't there before?"

"No, Hollie, this has nothing to do with guilt."

"So why, then? Is it because you hate failing?"

The woman stared at her, trying to work out if her daughter was being serious. "No, sweetheart, it's not. Isn't the reason obvious?" The teenager shook her head, staring at her feet. "Hollie… I love you. Watching you like this… destroying everything you've got… family, friendships, your relationship with Kevin… it's killing me. You are literally ripping my heart out. And I have no idea what to do."

"But…"

"You're my daughter, Hollie. Whatever you do, you're still my daughter and I love you. You and me belong together, alright?" Nikki said firmly, putting her hands on either side of the teenager's face and forcing her to look up. "Now we're going to sort this, understand?"

"You can't."

"Why?"

The single word from her mother was enough to send Hollie over the edge. All the anger and frustration and fear and guilt that had been building up finally spilt over and she broke down. Nikki caught her just in time to stop her hitting the floor, half carrying her into the living room and settling her on the sofa. She wrapped her arms around the teenager tightly, kissing her head and rocking her slowly.

When Hollie had cried as much as she could, Nikki stoked her hair away from her face. "Now start at the beginning and tell me everything."

"I can't!" Hollie choked out.

"So you can survive a bullet, but you can't tell me what's been going on?"

Seeing that she was wrong, Hollie reluctantly started talking. The whole twisted tale tumbled out; starting with Gavin and the others turning up to visit her and ending with waking up that morning with only sketchy memories of the night before. Nikki listened in silence, her face hardening as the story went on. Once again she felt like she'd let her daughter down. This time she'd been around while Hollie needed her, but she hadn't noticed that anything was wrong until it was too late. Nikki knew she wasn't a natural mother; she didn't know how to be. But she had tried her best. Maybe, she conceded bitterly, her best just wasn't good enough.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, unable to understand why Hollie had kept all this from her. "Or…" She swallowed her pride. "Or your Auntie Jo, if you couldn't tell me."

"I was trying to protect you." Hollie admitted. "You and Tom."

"What?"

"I thought… I thought that if everyone found out what I was really like then it would make things hard for you and Tom and Josh."

"What you're really like?" Nikki sighed and pulled her closer. "Oh, Hols, everyone knows what you're really like! You're a pain in the arse, you have way too much to say for yourself and you lose your temper far too easily. But you're also funny and clever and beautiful and so kind. You put everyone before yourself and I don't deserve you. I should have noticed that there was something wrong before Zoe and Scout came to me. I've let you down and I'm sorry."

Hollie looked confused. "You're sorry?"

"Yes, love, I'm sorry."

"So… what?" The teenager asked cautiously. "What now?"

Nikki smiled at her, stroking her cheek gently. "Now you go and pack to go to London."

"I'm still going?" Hollie asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Of course you're still going. We're not letting you off the hook that easily. You're still in trouble over the shoplifting and everything else. You, my girl, are lucky that your Auntie Jo adores you so much otherwise you'd be in a police station about now."

"Maybe that would be better…"

"You really think that?" Nikki asked, arching an eyebrow. "You really think it would be better if you were arrested? With your record it wouldn't just be a slap on the wrist, sweetheart. You'd be in serious trouble. And then what? What good is that going to do? Is it going to help you? Is it going to help me be a better mother?"

Hollie stared at her. "What? B-Better mother? What d'you… you think this is your fault? You think this is about you?" She bit her lip, shaking her head slightly. "So I was right? This isn't about me at all, it's about you. You feel guilty because you think you've failed. That's the story of my life, ain't it; same old story, just with different characters." She stood up and walked to the door. "You know what? I am going to go and pack. I'll be out of your hair soon and I won't be coming back."

* * *

_**A/N: So... general consensus seems to be that I stick to the original plan to do the entire year! Thanks for your opinions, guys! :)**_

_**x**_


	101. Chapter 101

Nikki put her head in her hands as the teenager stormed out of the room and up the stairs. "Brilliant, Nikki… well handled." She muttered to herself, not looking up as the door between the living room and the kitchen opened.

"You alright?" Jo asked quietly. She sat beside her cousin and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm guessing you heard that?"

"Most of it, yeah." The detective agreed with a shrug. "Listen, Nik… she's lashing out, that's all. You've done your best, but she's not easy to deal with. Hollie told me that when she was at her counselling session she got pissed off because the woman was trying to get her to say things about you. All she wants is to be loved."

"I do love her!" Nikki shouted, furious at the insinuation that she didn't.

Jo held up her hands and smiled. "I know that! I never disputed it! And I love her. And Tom loves her and Sam loves her… but she doesn't know how to handle it."

"What d'you mean?"

"Hollie… she spent a long time with no one but your parents and, let's face it, they weren't exactly loving. Sam's the one who really understands psychology and all that, but I reckon Hollie's got used to Auntie Anne and Uncle Henry's version of love."

"My parents were… they didn't… I don't know how to be a proper Mum because mine was never a proper one to me."

Shaking her head, the older woman smiled. She tightened her arm around Nikki's shoulders and kissed the side of her head. "That's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned; you not being anything like her. Your mother allowed Hollie to sleep with men for money. Answer me this; if you'd been there, what would you have done?"

"I'd have ripped their nuts off." Nikki answered at once, causing her cousin to snort with laughter.

"Exactly."

Nikki looked confused. "What?"

"OK… what would you do if Hollie got pregnant?"

"I dunno…"

"Alright, how would you feel?"

"It depends how Hollie felt. I'd go along with whatever she decided."

Jo smiled, making her cousin frown again. "And that, my dear, is why you're ten times the mother yours was. A hundred times, even. You're a mum and now it's about Hollie. Whatever she does or says or throws at you; it's all about Hollie."

x-x

"There's something I need to do before we go." Hollie told her Aunt as Jo put their bags into the boot of her car. "Can you give me half an hour?"

Jo frowned and glanced at her watch. "As long as it's a quick half hour, sweetheart."

Nodding, the teenager turned and made her way quickly along the road. Her hands were shaking as she walked hurriedly in the direction of Kevin and Chalky's flat. She had to face him before she went. She owed it to Kevin to try and give him an explanation. Hollie doubted that he would want to listen, but she needed to try.

Banging on the door of the flat and receiving no answer, she shouted through the letter box. After a couple of minutes the door opened and she jumped backwards.

"Hollie… he doesn't want to see you." Mr Chalk told her quietly.

"I just… I need to explain. I have to say I'm sorry."

"He doesn't want to know."

"Please, sir… I'm going away in half an hour. I have to see him before I go. Please?"

He sighed and, looking as though it was against his better judgement, stood aside. Hollie walked in and waited for him to lead the way. Chalky knocked on his foster son's door and waited for Kevin to open it.

"I said I didn't want to see her." He snapped, trying to shut the door.

Hollie stuck her foot in the way, folding her arms as it bounced back. "I need to explain."

"I don't want to hear it."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me or pretend everything's alright… I know it's not. I know it won't ever be alright again. I've messed up and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Kevin."

The boy looked at her for a minute and then walked into his room, sitting in his desk chair and watching her expectantly. Hollie bit her lip and then followed, perching nervously on the edge of his bed. Wondering where to start and how much to tell him, she decided on complete honesty. It didn't seem like she'd be coming back anyway after the way her conversation with her mother had ended.

"I couldn't tell you, Kevin." She finished, digging her thumbnail into her leg. "I was too ashamed."

"Why?"

"Because… because I didn't deserve someone like you. You deserve so much better than an ex-prostitute with more issues than an episode of _Jeremy Kyle_."

"Surely that's my decision?" Kevin asked, taking Hollie by surprise. "If you'd told me then I could have told you that your past doesn't matter. I've got a past I'd rather forget too… being passed around from foster home to foster home." He noticed the hope igniting in her eyes. "But it's too late now. You made your choice; you couldn't trust me. It's over."

Hollie stood quickly, nodding and smiling weakly at him. "Right… fair enough. Well I'm off to London until Friday… maybe longer…"

"Really? Why?"

"Oh… this work experience thing with my Auntie Jo and her girlfriend. Apparently seeing coppers at work will do me good or something." She said trying to sound casual, even a little amused by the thought. "Anyway, good luck with the app… Lorraine knows what she's doing. You'll probably earn millions. I'll text you in the week or summit… see ya."

Without waiting for him to respond, she left his bedroom, sending her maths teacher a brief goodbye and stalking out of the flat. As soon as she was round the corner and out of sight, she leant heavily against the wall and took a deep breath. It had been better than she'd expected; at least there'd been no shouting or crying involved.

Starting back towards the house slowly, Hollie decided to call in at the School House on her way. She wasn't entirely sure how things stood between her and her friends after the night before. Walking up the drive slowly, she could hear the shouting before she got close enough to determine who was involved in the argument.

"You thieving cow!" Rhiannon was shrieking at the top of her lungs.

Maggie waved a hand in greeting as she let Hollie into the house, rushing away towards the commotion. The girl followed curiously, wondering who the red-head had fallen out with this time.

"Me?!" Hollie recognised the voice instantly and smiled. Rhiannon had bitten off more than she could chew accusing Zoe of nicking off her. "You wanna come over here and say that?"

"OI!" They all turned at the shout from the doorway. Hollie smiled. "Rhiannon, back off."

"What's it to you? From what I hear you've got problems of your own to deal with."

"Yeah? Who told you that?"

"Everyone knows you and Kevin are finished." Rhiannon shot back.

Hollie shrugged. "And what? I'm out of here… just came to say goodbye."

"Oh, pet! Where are you going?" Maggie asked, enveloping the teenager in a tight hug before she could move. "When are you going? Why?"

"London… as soon as I get back to Ni– Mum's… I'm staying with my Aunties for a bit." She replied, answering each question in turn. She shocked herself, almost calling her Mum by her name. Rather than dwelling on it, she glossed over her slipup, noticing the looks on her friends' faces. "I dunno when I'm coming back yet."

"I thought it was just a week." Scout said, looking upset. "I thought you had to come back for the exam?"

"Yeah, well… things changed." Hollie told her, nodded her head towards the door. Smiling at the others, the pair and Zoe headed upstairs to Scout's bedroom and closed the door firmly. "I had an argument with Mum. She told me she loved me, then I basically told her she was selfish and stormed off."

Her friends looked totally confused. "Why?"

"Because she was just feeling guilty; she didn't manage to keep me out of trouble and she feels like she failed." The words even sounded pathetic to her.

"I think you're being a bit harsh, Hol." Scout said with a frown. "Your Mum would do anything for you."

Tears burned in the brunette's eyes and she nodded. "I know… and I just keep letting her down."

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you all so much for your support darlings! I'm so glad you're still enjoying this!**_

_**I am SHATTERED, but needed to update for you! :P**_

_**I'm also slightly traumatised because some of the year 3/4 kids I work with asked me to sing '**_**You Don't Know You're Beautiful**_**' by **_**One Direction**_** at the talent show they had for Comic Relief. I laughed in their faces, because REALLY?! No one wants to hear that!**_

_**I did do Gangnam Style with the Nursery/Reception, though! ;)**_

_**Anyway, you didn't want to know any of that!**_

_**Just enjoy the chapter and forgive my exhausted ramblings!**_

_**x **_


	102. Chapter 102

Hollie and Nikki barely said anything to each other as the teenager and her Aunt prepared to leave. Instead of apologising for her behaviour, Hollie left the necklace she had picked out for her Mum on Nikki's bedside cabinet with a note that simply said '_**Sorry. Love you, H x**_'.

Then they climbed into Jo's car and headed out of Scotland. The detective kept the conversation neutral, but Hollie knew that she was annoyed with her. It was obvious why and neither of them felt the need to draw attention to it. Instead they talked about other things; the weather, what Abi was doing, Nikki and Tom's wedding.

As they skirted round Lancaster, Jo brought up the subject of the reason they were going down to London. "Right… this work experience we've arranged for you… I want you to give it your best shot, Hol."

"I will." The teenager sighed.

"No, Hollie, I mean it." Her Aunt said firmly. "Sam and I have had to call in a lot of favours for this. Superintendent Meadows agreed to let you spend time at Sun Hill under the condition that Sam and I take responsibility for you. Don't let us down."

"I promise."

"Like you promised to stay out of trouble?" The teenager frowned and looked out of the window. "Hollie…"

"I won't let you down."

"I hope not." Jo told her firmly.

Hollie turned sideways to face the woman and smiled weakly. "So… what will I be doing?"

"Well… for safety reasons people on work experience aren't allowed to shadow police officers on operational activities, which means they're not able to go into the Custody Suit or in the response vehicles."

"So I'm gonna be stuck in an office for a week?"

"No…" Jo glanced sideways and smirked. "We still have a little influence down in Sun Hill. Smithy's agreed to let you shadow officers on patrol as long as you promise to behave and not get in the way." She sighed. "Look, sweetheart, your Mum doesn't know what to do with you. This is your chance to change things."

"I know that… and I will. I agreed to do this, didn't I? Even though I have so much history with that nick that I'd rather forget. Going back there is gonna be… it's gonna be hard, Auntie Jo."

"I can imagine."

"Can you, though?" The teenager asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you ever been part of that life? Have you ever been dragged into something so deep that you can't get out?"

"No," Jo conceded, "but you're out now. You don't need to go back and you won't. You need to think about the future. What are you going to do when you leave school?"

Hollie shrugged. "I dunno. I hadn't really thought about it yet."

"Surely you should be thinking about University or whatever?"

"I said I dunno!" The girl snapped. Then she sighed. "Everyone's constantly going on about University and exams and the future. Everyone expects so much; good grades, a degree, a respectable job. I don't know what I want to do. The thought of doing a job day in, day out that bores me is just… I can't stand it."

"I understand that." Jo told her gently. "The thought of doing anything other than my job is a thought I can't imagine."

"But you knew what you wanted to do. Mum said that you always wanted to be in the police."

Jo chuckled. "No always… I wanted to be a hairdresser when I was about fifteen or sixteen."

"Really?" Hollie raised an eyebrow, unable to imagine the woman cutting hair. "I can't picture you doing that."

"Me neither." The detective agreed. "But that just shows that you have to think about these things properly. You're working a long time to choose the wrong career for you."

Screwing up her face in thought, Hollie stared out of the window as they sped towards Manchester. An hour later they pulled up outside Jo and Sam's house and went inside. Sam refused to go anywhere until they'd had a decent lunch and said goodbye to Abi and her son. Two hours later they were back in the car, this time with the blonde driving, heading South-East towards London.

The closer they got to the capital, the more nervous Hollie grew. It wasn't just the thought of going into the police station and facing officers who'd arrested her on a lot more than one occasion that was worrying her. More so, it was the possibility of running into her former friends that was scaring her. Hollie slipped into an uneasy sleep in the back of the car, her dreams plagued by familiar faces that she was keen to avoid.

x-x

"You hungry, kid?" Jo asked, turning to look at the teenager in the back of the car. She stopped and smiled as she realised that Hollie was asleep, her head resting against the window. She looked so peaceful that the woman was loathed to wake her. "Hol… wake up sweetheart."

"Leave her, babe." Sam murmured, shaking her head quickly. "You said she's barely slept for days; I think she probably needs the rest more than she needs food."

"She'll have to wake up in a bit." Jo pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, but let's get to the hotel first."

The brunette sighed, but didn't argue. Instead she stared out of the window as Sam drove them towards the hotel their boss had booked for them. Both detectives were more than happy to come down to London to liaise with their former colleagues, because it meant they had the chance to catch up with their friends, while their accommodation was paid for by the Greater Manchester Police seeing as they were on official business.

A while later, Sam pulled into the last space in the car park behind the Holiday Inn they'd been booked into and Jo gently woke the teenager. There were a couple of seconds where confusion twisted Hollie's face, but then she remembered where she was and climbed out of the car. Retrieving her bag from the boot, she followed the two women into the hotel and waited patiently as Sam sorted out their reservation and received the room keys.

"They've given us connecting rooms." Jo said with a grin. "We didn't think you'd appreciate sleeping on the sofa bed in our room."

"Thanks."

"Right… shall we dump the bags and go and get something to eat?" Sam suggested, wrapping an arm around the teenager's shoulders as they made their way towards their rooms.

Hollie shook her head slowly. "No, thanks. I think I'll just go to bed if that's OK."

"I think you should eat someth–" Sam started, but her girlfriend cut across her.

"Of course it's OK, sweetheart." Jo assured her quickly. "You'll need a good night's sleep ready for your first day of being a copper tomorrow."

Rolling her eyes, the teenager kissed both women on the cheek and went into her room. She unpacked her things quickly, reassured by the low chattering from the other side of the door joining her room to Jo and Sam's. After a while, she heard their door closing and silence fell.

Crawling into bed, Hollie closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep. When Jo and Sam returned from their dinner in the hotel's dining room, they poked their heads through the door joining their rooms. Seeing the teenager was safely cocooned in her bed, they retreated, closing the door quietly.


	103. Chapter 103

"Inspector Smith!" Jo called making her way into the reception of Sun Hill police station the next morning and leaning against the desk. Sam leant beside her and both women chatted to the man for a while. Finally, almost as an afterthought, Jo reached beside her and pulled Hollie forward. "You remember Hollie?"

"Ahh…" Smithy smiled. "Miss Evans. Been keeping out of trouble?"

"It's Hollie Boston now and yes, I have." She told him firmly. Remembering what Jo had asked her to do in the car on the way over, she smiled weakly. "I'm sorry about being a pain in the arse before."

"Hol…" Jo muttered, rolling her eyes. She was unable to keep the smirk off her face, however, and received a nudge in the side from her girlfriend.

The teenager sighed. "I mean, I'm sorry for my behaviour before."

"Well we all make mistakes, don't we?" The man said with a smile.

"We'd better get going. Neil's expecting us up in CID." Sam said, glancing at her watch. "Is Hollie alright with you?"

"Course she is." The Inspector agreed, nodding. The two detectives both squeezed Hollie's arm as they made their way towards CID; Jo shooting her a wink as they went. "Right, you remember PC Knight?" Smithy waited for the teenager to confirm his assumption before continuing. "I've arranged for you to accompany her and PC Rodham on their patrol this morning."

"Is that allowed? Auntie Jo said–"

Smithy held up a finger and disappeared through a door, leaving the girl wondering what she was supposed to do. Moments later the door to the main part of the station opened and he beckoned her towards him. Hollie followed nervously as he strode through the corridors towards the canteen. She hesitated as the man pushed open the double doors. Spotting her reluctance to enter, he raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, they won't bite."

"Yeah… but they're… they're coppers, ain't they? Most of them have cautioned me or brought me in here."

"True…" He agreed with a shrug. "But Kirsty's been looking forward to this since I mentioned it; you can't disappoint her now!"

"Looking forward to it?" Hollie raised an eyebrow.

Smithy grinned. "For some, inexplicable reason, she's always really liked you. Kirsty always stuck up for you… she refused to agree that you were a lost cause."

"How sweet…" The teenager muttered, unwilling to show how touched she was.

"Come on."

Smithy led her into the canteen and across to the table where the blonde PC was sitting with a young black man. Hollie's attention was immediately drawn to him as he was incredibly good-looking. He reminded her of her first crush when she was twelve and she kicked herself, feeling absolutely ridiculous when she blushed as he grinned at her.

"PC Knight, PC Rodham? This is Hollie Boston," he grinned at Kirsty as they both remembered the teenager giving them a false name before, "yes, that really is her name. She's promised to be on her best behaviour this week, but if you have any trouble with Hollie at all, Jo and Sam are upstairs with DI Manson and they've assured me that they're only too happy to come and sort her out."

"Yeah, I don't think we need to resort to that." Hollie muttered in embarrassment. She could imagine what would happen if she let her Aunts down by misbehaving around their colleagues. Being arrested would be nothing to the trouble she'd be in with the two women.

The Inspector shot her a wink and headed away, leaving the girl with the two PCs. Kirsty indicated for her to sit down and explained that they were just taking refs and would be heading out on patrol in a couple of minutes. Sending the young man to fetch Hollie a drink, the blonde officer turned to the teenager and fixed her with a curious look.

"Jo was down here a couple of months ago looking for you… she said you'd gone missing. What happened? Are you alright?"

Hollie smiled weakly. "It was a… It… Auntie Jo saved me. She found us in a warehouse and…"

"Us?"

"Me and my sister, Nat… she… she died."

"Because of… oh, Hollie, I'm so sorry." The blonde woman said softly, reaching out and squeezing her arm.

"Yeah… I tried… I tried to keep her conscious and stop the bleeding but…"

"I'm sure there was nothing else you could have done. I'm sure she doesn't blame you."

"Of course she doesn't, she's dead." Hollie snapped. Then she sighed. "Sorry… I know what you mean. I just… there was an incident at school and since then I can't stop thinking about it… I have nightmares about guns and being kidnapped and I haven't slept properly in ages. Last night was the first decent night's sleep I've had in a long time."

"Here you go." PC Rodham said suddenly, putting a mug of tea on the table in front of the teenager. "So, what are we talking about?"

Kirsty glanced at Hollie quickly. "I was just asking why Hollie decided to come here."

"It's a long story." She told them, taking a sip of her drink. "I'm here to see the error of my ways."

The police officers laughed. "The error of your ways?" The young man asked. "That sounds interesting."

"It's not." Hollie informed him firmly. "Ask Kirsty… I used to be a complete nightmare."

Nodding in agreement the blonde grinned. "It's true… I spent most of my time running around the Larkmead after her. You were in here fourteen times in just over a year weren't you?"

"Something like that." Hollie agreed with a shrug.

"And we didn't even know your real name for about six months." Kirsty continued. "This girl is a bloody convincing liar."

"Yeah, alright…" The teenager muttered, blushing slightly. "But after… everything that happened… things got a bit complicated and I started slipping back into my old ways. Mum and Auntie Jo got all epic and so I'm here."

There was a sudden influx of officers into the canteen and Hollie's uncharacteristic urge to unburden herself evaporated at once. She wrapped her hands around her mug and stared at the dark liquid self-consciously as the volume in the room increased dramatically.

"Alright Kirsty, Danny? You patrolling the Larkmead?" A PC asked, pausing beside the table and looking between the two officers. When they nodded in agreement, the man raised an eyebrow. "We've just come back… keep your eyes open 'cos I think there's something going on."

"Like what?" PC Rodham asked.

"No idea, but we heard Gavin Ashton's name mentioned."

There was a clunk as Hollie dropped her mug. Swearing, she pushed her chair backwards as the liquid that had been in it spread quickly over the table. Rushing to the serving hatch, she grabbed a handful of paper napkins and did her best to mop up the spillage.

"You OK?" Danny asked, helping her in her task.

She nodded quickly. "Yeah… I just wasn't expecting to hear Gavin's name, that's all."

"You know Ashton?"

"Yeah… we go way back." Hollie admitted reluctantly. She glanced up as Kirsty returned to the table, having moved away to talk to the PC who'd mentioned the name that made the teenager jump.

"Hollie, I can have a word with Smithy and see if you can go with someone else if you want." The woman suggested thoughtfully.

Shaking her head, the teenager fixed her with a determined look. "No… if I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do it properly."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… let's just get it done."

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading guys and massive thanks to everyone who's reviewed - I would go through and mention you all as usual, but I'm too tired and you're lucky you're even getting an update! ;)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**x**_


	104. Chapter 104

Patrolling the Larkmead Estate with the two police officers was making Hollie incredibly jumpy. It had been almost a year since she'd last been there and she'd cut her hair since then, but that wasn't enough to stop her being recognised.

A group of teenage girls, about her age, crowded around and started hassling the three of them about an hour into the patrol. Hollie knew them and there was no way that news of her being on the Estate wouldn't get back to Gavin and the others. Kirsty and Danny tried their best to disperse the crowd, which was growing by the minute, but failed.

"What you doing with them, Hol?" A girl with bleach blonde hair demanded, folding her arms and glaring at the PCs aggressively.

"That's none of your business, Sarah." Hollie shot back firmly. "Leave it out, yeah. Acting like a knob ain't doing you any favours."

"You grassing?" The girl enquired, a sudden thought occurring to her. "Are you grassing on Gav, is that it?"

The brunette frowned. "What? I ain't a grass."

"He's gonna kill you if you've said anything!" Sarah told her, squaring up to the other girl and narrowing her eyes.

"About what?!" Hollie snapped, not backing down at the girl's threatening behaviour. If anything, it seemed to make her more confident. "Go on, if you're so clever, what have I told them?"

"I dunno… maybe about you being a complete skank."

"Takes one to know one." The brunette shot back immediately.

"You're dead, bitch!"

With a growl of fury, Sarah leapt forwards, clawing at the other girl. The police officers wrestled them apart. As Danny started cautioning the blonde, Hollie shook her head and pressed her thumb to her bleeding lip.

"Don't bother…" She muttered, glancing at the blood on her hand from her face. "She ain't worth the effort."

"But–"

"I said no." Hollie repeated. "I won't press charges, so there's no point."

"You wanna watch your step." Sarah warned as she and her gang wandered away.

When they'd gone, Hollie exhaled sharply and accepted the tissue Kirsty held out in her direction. She held it to her lip and frowned after the retreating girls. "Well, that went better than expected."

"Really?"

"Well yeah… I'm still walking, ain't I?" The teenager pointed out. "Only problem is Gavin's gonna know I'm here and I'm with you two. He'll probably jump to the same conclusions as you two and think that I'm–"

"You're what?" Kirsty asked as Hollie stopped talking abruptly.

"Nothing."

"Hollie?"

"Like I said, I ain't a grass."

The two officers exchanged a look but said nothing as the teenager strode forwards, leading the way through the gap between two tower blocks. They followed quickly, neither wanting to incur DI Nixon or DS Masters' wrath if anything happened to Hollie. For a while the three of them wandered around the Estate talking casually. The two officers found that when the limelight was taken off the teenager she was more than happy to chat and laugh with them. The second the conversation moved anywhere near a topic she wasn't comfortable with, though, she closed off and became distant.

"Oi..."

Hollie recognised the voice at once. Her blood ran cold and she stopped walking at once. Unaware that the teenager was about to come to a halt, Kirsty walked straight into her. She frowned, reaching out a hand and squeezing the girl's arm, her eyes asking an unspoken question. Shaking her head slightly, Hollie turned.

"What d'you want?" She asked in a hard voice, not wanting to get drawn into a conversation.

"Just a little chat." Gavin said, holding his hands up. On either side of him, Mitchell and Jayden smirked, the latter more out of a desire not to be different than anything. "What's wrong with that? You're a mate and we should have a catch up."

"I'm a bit busy…"

He wrinkled up his face, looking between the officers with distain. "There's a funny smell round here. Fancy coming to mine?"

"I can't."

"Why not? You're not seriously staying with them are you?" Gavin asked, laughing. When Hollie didn't reply he shook his head, his eyes darkening. "I never thought I'd see Hollie Boston becoming a pig bitch."

"Get stuffed." The girl snapped. "It's got nothing to do with you so just get lost, yeah?"

"Yeah?" The three men looked at each other and smirked. "You belong with us, Hol. We get you. I'm sure we'll be seeing you around, anyway; keep your eyes open."

They sent her a final look, before turning and wandering casually away. Hollie took several deep breaths, not doubting for a second that they would be true to their word and would at least attempt to find her. She waved away the police officer's concern and started walking away, forcing them to follow her.

Kirsty decided to cut the patrol short, worried that Hollie was potentially in danger. She made a mental note to report the threat Gavin Ashton had made to her Inspector, before radioing into the station to say they were coming in.

"Had fun?" Smithy's voice came through her radio, amusement evident in her tone.

"You could say that." Kirsty replied quickly, shooting a surreptitious glance at the teenager.

With a sigh, Hollie held out her hand. Reluctantly the blonde PC handed her the radio. "What she means is that I got into a fight and then pretty much got threatened by Gavin Ashton."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Right… well get yourselves back into the station and I'll speak to you then."

Rolling her eyes, the teenager handed the radio back and followed the two police officers away from the Estate. She was more worried than she wanted to admit about her run-ins, preferring to project the impression that she wasn't at all bothered. She over-compensated on the journey back to the station, drawing some concerned looks from Kirsty and Danny.

As soon as they walked into the reception, Smithy was there to greet them. Hollie sighed loudly, waving away his questions and assuring him that she was fine. The Inspector wasn't convinced, having too much experience of teenagers like Hollie who wanted to appear tougher than they were. Instead, he assigned Danny to keep an eye on her while Kirsty paired up with Roger to investigate a burglary.

"I don't need babysitting." Hollie told the young man firmly, not wanting him to think she was weak.

"I agree." Danny replied with a shrug. "But orders are orders."

She raised an eyebrow at him and slouched down in her seat, waiting for her Aunts to come and collect her.

_**A/N: Someone I went to school with came out with the phrase 'pig bitch' during a talk my form had because of some 'police related issues' a couple of years back. I thought it was pretty funny. I can't claim it as my own, though… :P**_


	105. Chapter 105

"How was your day, then?" Sam asked, putting her arm around the teenager's shoulders as they headed out of the station towards the car.

"Yeah… it was OK." Hollie said with a shrug. "How was yours?"

Jo and Sam exchanged a look, having been told what had happened on the Larkmead. "What happened to your lip?"

"Oh… just… You probably already know, don't you?" The teenager replied, exhaling sharply. When her Aunt raised an eyebrow, Hollie bit the inside of her lip. "It's nothing, really. I always knew it was gonna be difficult coming back. Wandering around with police weren't ever gonna go down well with my old mates."

"Kirsty told us you refused to come back in afterwards. I'm so proud of you for sticking it out." Jo put her hand on the teenager's cheek and smiled. "But I don't want you taking stupid risks just to save face, alright? Your Mum will kill me if you don't go home in one piece."

"Yeah, well, your track record in that department isn't exactly great, is it?" Hollie joked, poking out her tongue to make sure her Aunt knew she was joking. "But I'll be fine. I can handle myself, alright?"

"Yeah, well, as long as you don't do something stupid." Sam told her firmly, letting go of her to open the driver's door of her car. "Right, I'm starving. Where shall we go for dinner?"

Hollie had no opinion on where they should go to eat, so she sat in silence texting her friends while the two detectives argued it out between them in the front of the car. The girl listened to their conversation in amusement. It was a sort of jokey argument that radiated love. She frowned lightly, comparing the argument to the ones her Mum and Tom had. Theirs were far louder, more explosive and involved none of the jokey insults that the two women were firing at each other. Then again, Hollie reminded herself, this wasn't a serious argument; it didn't matter.

After dinner at Frankie & Benny's – Jo's choice after her 'victory' in their argument – the three women returned to the hotel. While Jo and Sam put on a DVD in their room, Hollie settled herself on her bed and pulled out her English revision, making good on her promise to do some work. She found it difficult to concentrate, however, wondering what would happen when she went into Sun Hill the following morning. If, on her first day, she had got into a fight and run into the person she wanted to see least in the world, surely that was a bad sign for what was to come.

Shivering, the teenager's mind whirred with all the worst case scenarios she could imagine. She chewed on her thumbnail and stared into space, the reality of the consequences of her actions finally hitting her. Sam was right; she really did need to take responsibility for the things she said and did and she needed to stop being so selfish. After their conversation in Manchester, Hollie had thought she understood. Now she realised that she had been lying to herself, as well as everyone else.

"You are revising, then?" Sam asked, making the teenager jump as she hadn't realised the blonde had entered the room. "Jo thought you'd be watching TV or something."

"Hey!" Her girlfriend complained, following her through the door joining the rooms together and pouting. She stood behind Sam, winding her arms around her girlfriend's waist and resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder. Without thinking about it, Sam put her hands over Jo's on her stomach and interlaced their fingers. "How's it going?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Why don't I believe you?" Jo asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I… I don't know." Hollie stuttered, causing Sam to turn her head slightly so that the two women could exchange a look, confused by her uncertainty.

"Hollie?"

Shaking her head, she smiled. "Stop distracting me. Unless you know how to answer the question, 'In _The World's Wife_ by Carol Ann Duffy, how far do you agree that women are depicted as victims?' because I have absolutely no idea how to start."

"Err… maybe we should…"

"We'll leave you to it, then." Sam told her quickly, ushering her girlfriend out of the room. "Don't stay up too late. Night, love."

When they'd gone, closing the door behind them, Hollie put down her pen once more and picked up her mobile. She hesitated for a couple of moments, tapping the handset against her lips and wondering whether or not to make the call she'd been debating all evening. A message came through before she could make the decision and she glanced at the display quickly, before reading the message.

'_**How's police work? Pretty much everyone knows about the other night… well, they know we broke up, but they don't know why. I keep saying it's just one of those things. S and Z know the truth, but they're almost battering anyone who says anything about you, so I think your secret's safe. I hope you're OK.'**_

Sighing, she thought about how to reply to Kevin's message. It took a while before she was satisfied enough to send her message. _**'I don't care about my secret; I just didn't want to hurt you. But you were right… this is better. Being mates, I mean. The girls better have my back, or **_**I'll**_** batter **_**them**_**. Any gossip from school? Well, apart from you and me, I mean. x'**_

Then she sighed and leant back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her mobile clasped in her hands resting on her chest. She chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking hard.

Before she could change her mind, Hollie opened her recent contacts and selected a number. Waiting for it to be answered, she shuffled backwards so that she was sitting against the headboard and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Hey…" She murmured softly as the ringing stopped and an answer phone message kicked in. "I thought I should give you a call… I thought about what you said about where I belong and you're right. I belong with you."

* * *

_**A/N: I sorta maybe almost promised **_**elliesimpson**_** that I'd post this chapter last night... but then I went out and was in no fit state to update when I got back! Anyway, I hope posting it now makes up for that! ;)**_


	106. Chapter 106

"So, Miss Boston, day two." Inspector Smith said with a grin, folding his arms and looking at her carefully. "I thought after yesterday's… excitement… you might want to hang around the station today."

"I'm fine to go out… and it's Hollie. Miss Boston is my Mum."

"Well, Hollie, it's my call and I say you stay here." He told her firmly, ushering her through the doors into the main part of the station.

She let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. Smithy led the way to the canteen where, yet again, Kirsty and Danny were waiting for her. The girl took her seat at the table and listened as the Inspector outlined the officers' duties for the day. To Hollie it just sounded like he wanted them to keep her busy and out of trouble. Despite her resolution to try and change her behaviour the teenager rolled her eyes in exasperation.

The morning was spent going through CCTV tapes and witness statements after a shoplifting call from a corner shop. It turned out that Hollie was good at spotting things on the grainy footage the officers had retrieved from the victim and Kirsty squeezed her shoulder as she passed to inform Sergeant Stone that they were looking for a gang of five teenage girls. The images they pulled from the tapes were just about good enough for the officers to find their identities and, while Kirsty, Danny and Hollie were in the canteen over lunchtime, Sergeant Stone and some of the PCs headed out to bring them in.

"Kirsty, Danny, I need your help interviewing the shoplifting suspects." Stone called, leaning through the door into the canteen. He pointed at Hollie, his face serious. "Smithy says you should go to the observation room next to interview room three."

"Why?"

"There's something you should see, apparently." The Sergeant said with a shrug.

"I'll take you." Kirsty told the teenager, squeezing her hand and smiling before standing up.

Hollie shrugged and followed the officers from the canteen and through the corridors towards the Custody Suite. Kirsty pointed to the door behind which the room Smithy wanted the teenager to go into was and waited until Hollie was inside before heading off to see where she was needed.

Frowning, the teenager moved to stand in front of the one-way glass between the room she was in and the interview room on the other side. It was empty and Hollie wondered whether she was in the wrong place. But then the interview room door opened and several people entered. The frown on her face deepened as she recognised the girl who took a seat on the opposite side of the table from Inspector Smith and PC Rodham.

"Interview commencing at 14:04." Smithy started, taking his seat once the tape was rolling and recording the conversation. "Present are Inspector Smith, PC Rodham, Sarah Doyle and duty brief, Vincent Lomax. So, Miss Doyle, care to tell us where you were at 9:20 this morning?"

From the police officer's point of view, the interview was typical. From Sarah's point of view, the interview was pointless. From Hollie's point of view, the interview was nothing short of terrifying.

She understood exactly why the Inspector had wanted her to watch through the window. The girl sitting at the table blatantly finding the whole situation beneath her or funny in equal measures could easily have been Hollie not that long ago. Even some of her answers sounded like they'd fallen straight out of the brunette's mouth.

It was with morbid fascination that Hollie carried on watching the spectacle after that realisation hit her. She was floored when Smithy informed Sarah that, with her record, she would almost definitely receive a custodial sentence and be sent to a Juvenile Detention Centre. Their records were frighteningly similar and Hollie knew that if it was her sitting in there now Smithy would probably have said exactly the same thing.

Touching the cut on her lip briefly as she remembered their fight the day before, Hollie thought about the consequences of Sarah being sent to Juvie. The brunette knew that her former friend lived with her Mum and three younger siblings and that Sarah had looked after them most nights while her Mum worked all the hours she could to support them. Now what would happen to them?

Then it hit her, like a punch in the stomach. Sam's words echoed in her ears. '_You are punishing everyone that loves you with your selfishness…. seeing the consequences of your actions might help you realise that it's not just you that suffers._' The blonde detective was right. She had never stopped to consider how the way she acted affected anyone else.

A knock on the door and the sound of it opening made the teenager jump and whirl around. "Hollie? You OK?" Smithy asked gently. "I know that must have been tough to watch, but I just thought–"

"I needed to see it." Hollie finished for him.

Smithy nodded. "Yeah."

"You're right. I did." She nodded. "'Cos now I know that Sarah Doyle won't be coming after me again."

He frowned, slightly confused. "But… I intended…"

Hollie grinned. "I'm joking. I get it. I'm one step away from Juvie."

"Jo and Sam told me to do whatever I had to… whatever I could to get you to realise how you're risking everything by slipping back into your old ways."

"Hmm… So… this is like emotional blackmail?" She asked, folding her arms and staring at him. Smithy looked surprised. Even though Hollie had accepted what they were trying to do, even though she knew they were right, she wasn't going to let them win that easily. "You're their puppet?"

Seeing the corners of her mouth twitching up in a smirk, the Inspector grinned at her. "Just call me Pinocchio."

"Well I guess that would make me Cinderella, although instead of an evil Step-Mother I had… my Nan." Hollie pointed out, pulling a face. A shadow crossed her features for a split second, before she forced herself to grin. "Although I can't really see myself marrying Prince Charming; in my experience charm is always a bad thing in men."

"Are you saying I'm not charming?" Smithy asked, pretending to be offended. Hollie laughed, throwing her head back and swatting at his arm. "Maybe we should go and find Sam and Jo… they'll probably want to see you."

"To make sure I've got the message?"

He shrugged and nodded. "Something like that."

With a sigh, Hollie followed him out of the observation room and along the corridor. They headed up a flight of stairs and walked along another corridor. At the end were a set of double doors, which the Inspector pushed open and strode through, leaving the teenager trailing in his wake. Hollie was suddenly nervous, not wanting to walk through the doors and see what was on the other side.

"Come on." Smithy encouraged. "CID might not be as great as Uniform, but they don't bite."

Smiling, slightly more at ease after his joke, the girl nodded and followed him inside. Smithy pointed to a chair by a free desk and Hollie sat down, moving the swivel chair gently backwards and forwards with one foot. She tilted her head to one side and watched as the man walked towards the door with 'DI' on it and knocked. He opened it after a moment and poked his head inside. There was a long pause while he spoke to whoever was inside, then Jo and Sam emerged, smiling broadly at her.

"You ready to go, sweetheart?" Jo asked gently, not mentioning whatever they'd just spoken about with the Inspector.

Hollie nodded. "Can we…?"

"Can we what, love?" Sam asked distractedly, placing a file on the desk Hollie was sitting at and rummaging through the top drawer for the car keys.

"Can we go and see my Nan?"


	107. Chapter 107

"Your Nan?" Jo asked, shocked. "Why the hell would you want to go and see her?"

"I know you don't like her… I just…"

The brunette sighed and started walking towards the doors, pausing and waiting for the others to follow. She didn't say anything until they were in the car park and then she leant against the car and sighed again. "It's not that I don't like her… it's more that she doesn't like who I am."

"Yeah, I know… but… she can't turn me against you just because she's prejudiced and… stupid." Hollie assured her Aunt. "But I… I feel guilty."

"Why?!"

"I don't know! Maybe I've got that thing… Stockholm syndrome?"

Both detectives burst out laughing at her suggestion. Jo kissed her forehead. "Alright, sweetheart, I'll take you. Do you know what her home's called?"

"The Oaks."

Looking as though she'd rather be going anywhere else, Jo pulled up her mobile and searched for a number. She had a short conversation with someone who worked there, confirming that it was alright to visit, before turning to look at the teenager in the back of the car.

"We can go in after tea, so we might as well go and get something to eat too." She said, slightly bitterly.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." Hollie assured her, realising that it would almost definitely be incredibly uncomfortable for the brunette. "You can just drop me off there if you want."

"No, sweetheart. If nothing else me being there will really piss her off and, horrible as it sounds, that'll make me feel so much better." Jo said with a hint of anger in her tone.

"I won't come, if you don't mind." Sam told them quickly. "I don't fancy being called a home wrecking harlot tonight. Although who's home she thinks I wrecked I have no idea."

Hollie frowned, remembering the many, many tirades her Nan had gone off on about Jo in the past. Her Granddad had just sighed and hidden behind his newspaper. Hollie wished that he had stood up to her, even only occasionally. But he never did and the teenager was forced to listen to the ranting against her Aunt, which would inevitably switch to ranting against her Mum. When the girl challenged her, trying to defend the women, her Nan would smack her round the head and send her to her room.

"Hollie?"

The girl jumped at Jo's soft tone. Then she smiled. "Sorry… got a bit… so, what's for dinner?"

x-x

It was with a shaking hand that Hollie signed the book on the front desk of the residential home. She stood aside as Jo glanced towards her and nodded when the nurse who had greeted them indicated that they should follow her. The teenager screwed up her nose slightly as the undefinable smell that seemed to indicate old people filled her nose. Jo shot her a look, barely concealing a smirk as she realised what the expression on Hollie's face meant.

Several chairs stood along the pale yellow walls in the corridor, a few women sitting in them. Two of the women looked up from the crosswords on their laps as Jo and Hollie passed, glaring at them curiously. The nurse paused and looked into a room that led off the corridor for a moment, before continuing to lead them further into the building. Peeking a glance into the room as she passed, Hollie saw that it was some kind of television room. There was a flat screen on one wall and chairs lined up along the wall opposite. On the wall opposite the door was a large wooden bookcase, filled with rather battered paperbacks. A couple of old men looked at her, one raising his hand in a shaky salute.

"Come on, love." Jo encouraged gently as Hollie paused.

"Yeah, I was just…"

Shaking her head, she pushed her hand into Jo's and squeezed it tight. The detective squeezed back and smiled reassuringly, shooting the teenager a wink as they reached a door at the end of the corridor. The nurse opened it and they found themselves walking into a large conservatory, still hand-in-hand. Thick red curtains were pulled all the way around the almost circular room and chairs were arranged all around the edge in front of them.

As they walked into the room, all of the elderly men and women stopped talking at once, every single eye directed in their direction. Hollie's grip on Jo's fingers tightened in panic as she spotted her grandmother, flanked by a couple of old ladies with knitting needles clutched tightly in their hands. For one, irrational moment, Hollie considered what she'd do if they tried to attack her with the long, thin needles.

"What are you doing here?" Anne demanded bluntly, her gaze sweeping over her relatives. She looked about as far from being happy to see them as was possible.

"Your Daughter and Granddaughter are down in London for a couple of days and came to see you." The nurse told her with a smile. "Come on Margery, Winnie; let's move you over so that Jo and Hollie can sit down and talk to Anne."

"I'm not–" Jo started quickly, before Anne cut across her.

"She is not my daughter." The old woman spat furiously, her lips turned up in a snarl.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I just assumed…"

She trailed off, heading away to fetch the medicine trolley for the evening rounds. Hollie awkwardly perched on the chair beside her Nan's, while Jo opted to sit on the other side of her, rather than next to Anne on her other side.

"How are you?" Hollie asked nervously. "It looks nice here."

"I thought you said I'd never see you again?" Anne muttered, almost looking disappointed.

"Sorry… I was angry…"

"Yes, well…" The woman sniffed before her gaze settled on Jo who was pointedly looking away. "What's she doing here? Your mother given up on you already, has she? Shipped you out to the rest of the family? I suppose my sister was only too happy to step in... Margaret never could see when she was being manipulated."

"Usually by you…" Jo muttered, grinding her teeth as the woman insulted her mother.

Squeezing the hand that was still clutching hers, Hollie spoke before her grandmother could snap back. She forced her tone to stay light and calm. "No, Nan… I'm just down here with Auntie Jo and Sam for a couple of days."

Anne snorted. "You wanna be careful with those two."

"Why?" Hollie demanded, her anger bubbling over. "Being gay isn't contagious, you know." As her grandmother tried to shush her, Hollie laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, stop it, Nan."

"So where is your mother, then?"

"She's at home." The teenager said with a shrug. "Oh! She's getting married."

Anne rolled her eyes. "Who would be stupid enough to marry Nicola?"

Hollie clenched her hands into fists. "Tom… you met his son when I visited you in hospital."

"Oh… the gay one. That explains things."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The teenager demanded, protectiveness for her step-brother fuelling her anger.

"Well this Tom obviously doesn't have very high standards." Her grandmother snapped, glancing around as she realised the other residents were listening with great interest.

"You don't know anything!"

"I brought you up. I know you, Hollie Joanne Evans. Your Grandfather and I tried with you, but there are some things… some people… you can't make good, whatever you try. Some people are just inherently bad. Your mother… you…"

"I'd rather be like her than you." Hollie spat. "Oh, and my name is Hollie Joanne Boston. You didn't bring me up… I brought myself up while you made my life hell!"

Narrowing her eyes, the woman raised her hand as though she was about to slap her granddaughter. Quick as a flash Jo was on her feet and her hand closed around her Aunt's wrist. She leant down, her eyes flashing so dangerously that they almost looked black.

"You try it." She spat in a low voice. "You just try it."

Hollie placed a hand on her Aunt's arm and shook her head slightly. "Let's go."

Reluctantly, Jo straightened up. She tugged on the bottom of her jacket, straightening it and turned on her heel. As she stalked away, she wrapped an arm around Hollie and kissed the side of her head. "You OK?"

"Yeah… you were right, as usual." Hollie admitted with a sigh. "We shouldn't have come."


	108. Chapter 108

Wednesday wasn't memorable. After the events of the evening before, Hollie wasn't in the mood to protest when Inspector Smith suggested that she did some revision while Kirsty and Danny finished their outstanding reports. He seemed surprised when she nodded and pulled her books out without argument.

Her mind wasn't on the work in front of her, however. She was thinking about the phone call she'd made on Monday night and wondering why it hadn't been returned. The only reason she could think of was that it was too late to try and sort things out. Hollie could take a hint.

The day passed slowly. She did manage to get a decent amount of revision done, although she was bored to tears by the time Jo came to collect her and take her home. Sam had already left, being given a lift by a friend. The brunette turned to look carefully at the teenager beside her, wondering how to raise what she wanted to say.

"Hols… Sam and I… Well, Sam and I are going out tonight with some friends from the station."

"Oh…" The girl nodded slowly. "That's OK; I can get some work done."

The thought of doing yet more revision was not something that she was looking forward to and that obviously showed on her face. "I can cancel if you want. I can stay with you."

"Don't be stupid! How often are you in London? I'll be fine, Auntie Jo."

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts! You and Auntie Sam go and have a good time."

Later that evening, when the two detectives were finally ready to go out, Hollie felt like a child being left alone by her parents for the first time. They fussed around her checking and double checking that she didn't mind them going out until she was ready to punch something. It was sweet, she conceded, but it was driving her mad.

They finally left and, as the door clicked shut behind them, the teenager breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately switched on the TV, turning it up loud and then picked up her mobile. She frowned at the screen, screwing up her face into a pout as she realised that her call had still not been returned.

Her usually thin patience was even more tested than usual and she decided to swallow her pride and try calling again. Selecting the number, she held it to her ear and waited, holding her breath until she knew whether the call would be answered or she'd have to leave another message.

"Hollie?"

"Mum!"

"Are you OK?" Nikki sounded confused about why her daughter was phoning her. "Has something happened?"

Hollie frowned. "No, I… didn't you get my message the other day?"

"What message?"

The teenager sighed, relieved that Nikki hadn't been ignoring her. "I phoned you on Monday night… it doesn't matter."

"Sorry, love, I was out on Monday night…" There was a slight pause. "I don't think I've got any messages, though… are you sure you phoned me?"

"Yeah… it's fine."

"Well what did you say?"

"Nothing important." Hollie said quickly. "Just… stuff. Anyway, how are things at home?"

Nikki started telling her what had been going on in Greenock and Waterloo Road and Hollie smiled contentedly, leaning against the headrest of the bed casually. She then returned the favour, telling her Mum what she'd been doing in London; conveniently forgetting to mention the fight and the threat and the visit to her Nan's home.

"Oh! I should have thanked you for the necklace straight away." Nikki said suddenly about half an hour into the conversation, causing her daughter to frown as she tried to realise what she was talking about. Then she remembered the stolen necklace she'd left in her mother's room. "It's beautiful; thank you."

"It's OK… I just wanted to..."

They lapsed into slightly uncomfortable silence. That upset Hollie a little after the way the conversation had been going before, but then there was a knock on the bedroom door and she stood up quickly, asking her Mum to hold on while she went to see who it was. Holding the mobile by her side, she opened the door, freezing as she realised who was standing outside.

Before she could slam the door shut, a foot shot out and stopped her. Gavin barged his way inside and shut the door, advancing on her threateningly. Hollie backed away, too worried to remember that her Mum was still on the other end of the phone. It was only when she heard Nikki's worried voice calling her name that she remembered.

"Oh… sorry. It's room service. I have to go." Hollie lied quickly. "I'll speak to you soon."

Without waiting for a response, the teenager hung up, putting her mobile on the surface behind her and folding her arms. She settled herself by taking a deep breath and narrowed her eyes.

"What d'you want?"

"I came to find out what you were doing with the cops?" He told her, his eyes narrowing.

"None of your business."

"Well that's what I'm trying to find out."

Hollie rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the cabinet behind her. "Seriously? You think I'd grass?"

"I don't know what you're capable of anymore." Gavin admitted.

If Hollie hadn't known him better she'd have thought that there was nothing more than concern and regret in his face and voice. But she did know him better and she knew that he was only thinking about himself.

"I think you should leave." She told him in a low, dangerous voice. "I haven't and won't grass… unless you don't get the hell out of my life and leave me alone."

Gavin considered her for a moment and then he stepped forwards and grabbed hold of her roughly. One hand covered her mouth and the other slipped into his jacket pocket and pulled out a knife. Hollie glared at him, struggling until she felt the blade against her neck.

"Stop struggling and listen." He ordered. Reluctantly she did as she was told. "Good girl… how can I be sure I can trust you?"

Hollie tried to answer, exhaling sharply as she realised his hand was still over her mouth. After a moment, Gavin realised too and moved his hand reluctantly. "Because you haven't got a choice. Don't you think that if I'd told them about what you… about that… then you wouldn't have been arrested already? You met my Aunts, right? You seriously think they'd just forget about all that?"

The man considered her. Hollie tried to keep her face emotionless, knowing that Jo and Sam did know everything and they were itching to arrest him. But he didn't know that and he didn't have to know, either. She just wanted him out of her room and as far away as possible.

"But how do I know you won't tell them?"

"Because I won't. Do you think I want them knowing what I did?" She spat.

He shrugged and let go, replacing the knife in his pocket. "You heard from Zoe lately?"

Hollie was taken aback by the abrupt change in conversation. "Uh… no?"

"You don't sound sure."

"I wasn't expecting the question. I haven't spoken to her since she said she was going to stay with her Mum." The girl said with a shrug. It sometimes scared her how easily she was able to lie convincingly.

Gavin looked at her for a moment and then nodded. He walked towards the door. "I guess I won't be seeing you around then. Enjoy London before you head back to that shithole you call home."

And then he was gone. Hollie let out a long, low breath and collapsed onto the bed in relief. She wasn't sure she'd ever stop shaking.


	109. Chapter 109

Jo and Sam were convinced that something had happened while they'd been out. Nikki had phoned asking what had happened, explaining that Hollie had gone all funny and ended their conversation abruptly. The two women cut their evening short and returned to the hotel immediately, worried about what they might find.

Knocking on the door that connected their rooms, Jo burst in without waiting for a response. She was surprised to see the teenager tucked up in bed with her English books strewn about over the duvet around her. Hollie blinked slightly at the intrusion, before asking why they were back so early.

"Your Mum said you… she was worried."

"Oh… room service arrived and I got distracted." Hollie replied with a shrug and a small, weak smile. "I should have phoned her back."

Jo didn't look at all convinced. "Really?"

"Yeah… what else would it be?"

Not knowing what else to say, the brunette said goodnight and retreated. She and Sam theorised what could have happened for a while, before the blonde sighed and reminded her girlfriend that they needed to start believing Hollie was trying to be more responsible and start trusting her. Jo agreed and, reluctantly, she allowed herself to be gently coaxed into a conversation about where they should go on holiday as soon as they managed to get enough days off at the same time.

The next day the two detectives were stressed trying to finish off all the paperwork that went with the end of their part of the case Sun Hill and Manchester were working together on. Hollie was taken on a foot patrol of the area, as far away from the Jasmine Allen Estate as possible. She had never really been into the posher areas of Sun Hill before and didn't know where she was.

Kirsty kept her in conversation pretty much the whole time, except when they were called to a shoplifting incident on Canley High Road and the teenager had to stand aside and watch as the PCs dealt with the shopkeeper. He seemed confused about what had happened and, for about ten minutes, was adamant that Hollie was the one who'd robbed his shop. It took Kirsty repeating the fact that the girl had been with them at the time for him to realise he was mistaken.

When they returned to the station for refs several hours later, Hollie sank into a seat at one of the tables in the canteen, clutching the cup of tea she was handed gratefully. "How do you keep going like that?"

"You get used to it." Kirsty shrugged, sipping at her drink. "Usually there's less walking involved. It must be a quiet day."

Hollie grinned. "Isn't that bad luck or something?"

"What?"

"Saying the 'q' word. Isn't it the equivalent of saying 'Macbeth' in a theatre?"

"Oh don't!" The blonde PC swatted at her arm and smirked. "I'm finishing in… three hours."

"You're the one who said it, not me." Hollie pointed out with a grin.

Kirsty rolled her eyes and didn't dignify the statement with a response. They sat in companionable silence for a while, both sipping their tea lazily, until Smithy appeared at the doors. His eye fell on the pair and he crossed the room quickly. The PC sat up straight at the expression on his face.

"PC Knight, a girl's been attacked on the Jasmine Allen. I need you and Rog to get down there and join Mel and Leon. CID are already on their way." He ordered hastily. As the woman stood to do as she was told, Hollie followed, but the Inspector laid a hand on her arm. "Not you, Hollie."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." He replied bluntly. "Jo and Sam said they won't be much longer. They're finishing up early so you can all get a decent amount of sleep before driving back up North tomorrow morning."

Realising that there was more to the man's reasoning for her not to go on the shout than what he was saying, the teenager nodded slowly and remained in her seat. She watched as he moved to talk to a group of PCs sitting on another table and they all rose to leave the room. After a couple of moments Hollie, too, made her way out of the canteen. She knew that Danny was manning the front desk and was sure that PC Rodham would know what was going on.

"Hey, what you up to?" He asked, grinning at her as she leant on the front of the desk lazily.

"Nothing… everyone's out on the Jasmine Allen and I wasn't allowed to go." She explained with a sigh. "Any idea why?"

"No…"

His reply was so unconvincing that she arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh, go on! I really want to know!"

"Well…"

"I won't tell anyone." She prompted.

Danny sighed. "A prostitute was attacked and she's claiming it was her pimp."

"Did she give a name?"

"Gavin Ashton."

It felt as though an ice cube had dropped straight down her back, sending a shiver down her spine. There wasn't a single part of her that didn't believe Gavin was capable of something like that. She shuddered, remembering him invading her personal space the night before. Then she froze.

"Oh god… this is my fault…"

"Your fault?" Danny asked in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows. "How can this be your fault?"

"I…" She didn't know how to explain. She had wound him up last night and he had clearly left the hotel spoiling for a fight. Hollie could almost feel the cold metal of his knife against her neck again and she unconsciously raised a hand to run over the small, unnoticeable cut on her skin. "It just is…"

"D'you want to speak to Smithy?" He asked gently.

Turning wide eyes on him, the teenager shook her head. "I need… I need to speak to my Aunts."

Not arguing, Danny reached for the phone on the desk and punched in the extension for CID, waiting for it to connect. He passed on Hollie's request to speak to the two detectives and then waited, obviously listening to whoever was speaking on the other end. He nodded sharply, but then informed the person that it seemed important and he didn't think it could really wait. Hollie was grateful that he hadn't divulged the nature of the conversation she needed to have with the two women.

"They're coming down now." He told her gently as he hung up the receiver. Pointing to the door that led off from the reception area he smiled. "D'you want to wait for them in there?"

Hollie nodded and walked to the door quickly, pushing it open and beginning to pace. She couldn't bring herself to sink into one of the seats at the table in the corner. Instead she just walked backwards and forwards, chewing her lip and wondering what she could do to make the situation better. She had no proof to help the case against Gavin Ashton. It was purely speculation that their conversation had led to him attacking the poor girl.

The sound of the door opening caused Hollie's head to snap up and her eyes sought out the other women's quickly, hoping for some hint of reassurance or an idea as to what she should do. Jo and Sam stepped into the room looking worried. The brunette walked closer and instinctively pulled the teenager into a hug as her girlfriend closed the door behind them and moved to stand at their side. When Jo released Hollie, Sam hugged her too.

"We heard about Gavin Ashton and that girl." Jo murmured softly, running her fingers through the teenager's hair and assuming that she was upset about it.

"We know you think of him as a friend, but if he did attack…" Sam started. She trailed off when Hollie shook her head vehemently.

"It's not that. It's… I lied." She sighed deeply, moving to perch on the edge of the table. "It wasn't room service that interrupted my call with Mum. It was Gavin. He turned up to find out if I'd said anything about… stuff."

"Him exploiting you?" Jo snapped bitterly.

Hollie nodded. "Yeah… that. I told him I hadn't and… he pulled out a knife. I thought he was gonna kill me… I convinced him that I hadn't said anything and I wouldn't… he asked about Zoe and I said I didn't know where she was. He was so angry when he left but I didn't think… if I hadn't argued with him he might not have…"

Immediately two pairs of arms were wrapped tightly around her, soothing hands in her hair and reassurances murmured into her ears. Hollie clung on to the two women, wanting them to convince her that it wasn't her fault and that everything would be OK. Finally she realised that she just wanted to be normal; no more secrets, no more lies, just her family and friends and all the things that went with being a normal teenager.

"This is not your fault." Sam assured her gently moving to sit beside her on the table, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Gavin Ashton is dangerous, Hollie." Jo reminded her. "You have to help get him sent down."

"I… I can't." The teenager almost sobbed. "I can't face him… I just… can't…"

"Is there anything you can give us that might help pin him down?" Sam pressed, squeezing her hand. "Anything that would work as evidence in court?"

Chewing her lip, Hollie thought for a moment. "There's… I dunno if it's still there, but he used to keep like a… a log book or something. It had records of all the appointments we had in it. I saw him filling it in a couple of times; names, dates, times, transactions…"

"Where is it?"

"I… it used to be under the floorboard by his bed."

"Hollie…" Jo cupped her face gently. "You might have to give a statement, you and Zoe, about what you did… what he made you do."

"He didn't make me do anything." She reminded them with a frown. "I… it was my choice. It was my fault."

"Who planted the idea when you were alone and vulnerable, Hol?" Jo asked softly. "Who encouraged you to sell yourself? Who made you think you weren't capable of anything more than that?"

Leaning her forehead on Sam's shoulder so that she wouldn't have to make eye contact with either woman, the teenager sighed. "I don't want to see him or speak to him. I won't be able to do it if he… I just won't."

"I promise." Her Aunt nodded, stroking her hair. "You can give your evidence via video link. You never need to see him again."

"Will everyone know?" Hollie asked in a small voice.

The women exchanged a look. It would be an incredibly highly publicised case, there was no doubt about that. Gavin Ashton was one of the most well-known names on their patch. Building a case against him that would, hopefully, lead to a substantial prison sentence would definitely attract a lot of media attention. They couldn't promise that her name and face wouldn't be made public.

"Sorry." Was the only answer either of them could come up with.

* * *

_**A/N: Firstly – thank you to everyone who's read/reviewed the last couple of chapters! It really does mean a lot!**_

_**Secondly – I am so sorry for the delay in updating. The Easter holidays have been slightly mental; the first week I went on holiday with my cousins and last week I was at my parents because my Dad was having an operation. They're also having building work done and their internet is down. Two weeks with just my phone internet – which I tried to limit so that my bill didn't give me a heart attack – is apparently almost too much for me to deal with without going mad!**_

_**Thirdly – for various reasons, (massive amounts of self-doubt, writers' block, work, exhaustion, etc.) I feel like my writing abilities are suffering and I was wondering whether you lovely people would do me a favour.**_

_**If you have any prompts for one-shot mini-fics that you'd like me to have a go at, shove them in my ask box on tumblr (there's a link on my profile) and I'll give them a go. I want to keep them on tumblr rather than here because I'm still slightly confused over the fact I've already managed to write and post 41 fics. So yeah, if you tell me what show/characters/ships/scenarios you'd like me to tackle I'll give them a go around struggling with my multi-chapter fics! The only things I won't write are smut (because my attempts are laughably bad) and RPF (because writing about fictional characters is one thing, real people is something else…) and obviously shows I don't watch!**_

_**Thank you so much darlings!**_

_**Bex x**_


	110. Chapter 110

Knowing that Hollie was reluctant to actually give a statement, Jo persuaded Neil to let her and Sam be the ones to take it so that she didn't feel as uncomfortable. It was still horrible and, by the middle of the interview all three were starting to wish that someone else had taken the statement. Hollie found it difficult to talk about the events to her aunts and they found it almost unbearable to listen to.

Finally the paperwork was taken away and typed up quickly so that Hollie could read through and sign it. She hesitated, her pen hovering above the dotted line where her name needed to be written.

"It's OK." Jo prompted her gently. "It'll be OK."

"You promise I don't have to see him?"

"I promise."

Nodding, the girl lowered the pen and scribbled her signature on the line before pushing the paper back across the table and resting her head on her folded arms. Sam carried the statement out of the room while Jo leant forward and played absentmindedly with Hollie's hair.

"Shall we go back to the hotel, order room service and snuggle up in front of a film?" The brunette suggested, gently raising her niece's chin to look at her.

Hollie nodded. "I should probably say goodbye…"

They walked out of the interview room, Hollie clutching Jo's hand tightly. Kirsty and Smithy both hugged her as she said goodbye, Danny rubbing her shoulder and smiling at her. After a couple more goodbyes were said and Jo and Sam had chatted briefly with their friends and colleagues the trio left Sun Hill and headed back to the hotel.

Neither woman mentioned the statement or Ashton or the case at all. Neither did they mention the fact that Hollie should have been revising for her English exam the next afternoon. She needed to relax and, to be perfectly honest, the two women just wanted to make sure she was alright.

"Have you got everything?" Sam asked very early the next morning as they left their rooms and wandered towards the reception area.

Hollie rolled her eyes at the nagging, but smiled fondly all the same. "Yes; I checked three times."

"OK, OK! I was just making sure because Abigail is terrible. I think she'd sometimes forget Harry if he wasn't so noisy."

"Are you nervous about your exam this afternoon, sweetheart?" Jo asked, wrapping an arm around the girl as Sam chatted to the young woman on the reception desk for a couple of moments.

"It's too early in the morning to be nervous." Hollie told her, stifling a yawn.

"Are you gonna revise in the car?"

"I'm gonna sleep in the car."

Jo grinned. "Your Mum will kill us if she thinks you haven't been revising for this exam. You know how important it is."

"I have been revising." Pouting slightly, Hollie sighed. "OK… I'll sleep for a bit and then I'll do some last minute revision, OK? It's half four in the morning... nothing is gonna stick if I don't get more sleep."

"Maybe a nap will do you good… it's gonna be a long day otherwise and you can't fall asleep in your exam." Her aunt pointed out with a chuckle.

"Right, we ready to go?" Sam asked, turning and re-joining them by the door.

They climbed into the car and started heading out of London. They'd decided that Sam would drive the first part of the journey and they'd stop off in Manchester so the two detectives could grab some clean clothes and pick up Abi and Harry. Then Jo would take over the driving up to Greenock. In the back of the car Hollie soon fell asleep, lulled into a relaxed state by the motion of the car and the soft music her aunts were listening to.

Jo woke her when they stopped at a service station for something to eat a couple of hours later. Hollie rolled out of the car and followed her and Sam sleepily into the building. She leant against the wall, yawning widely, as Jo bought breakfast for the three of them. With a smile, Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Hollie rested her head against the smaller woman's own and closed her eyes.

"Oi! Wake up sleepy head." Jo chuckled as she returned to where they were standing, a tray in her hands.

"I'm not asleep." The teenager muttered defensively. "I was just… resting my eyes. Besides, it's only seven. I should be tucked up in bed right now."

"Ahh… welcome to the world of the working adult." Sam laughed, propelling her into a seat at one of the plastic tables.

"Mum and Tom aren't up at seven." Hollie told her, deliberately being difficult. The two detectives laughed at the pout on her face.

"Well lucky them." Jo said. "Eat your breakfast."

As soon as the bacon sandwiches and cups of coffee had been eaten and drunk, the three women were back in the car. As Sam pulled back onto the motorway, Hollie settled back down to resume her nap. Before she could, however, there was a beep and the teenager pulled out her mobile. The two women exchanged an amused glance as her attention was immediately caught up in whatever her message said. Jo watched in the mirror as Hollie's face contorted into an expression that was somewhere between surprise, confusion and excitement.

"Everything OK?" She asked quickly.

"Huh?" Hollie glanced up and met her eyes in the mirror. "Oh, yeah… It's just Imogen…"

She returned her attention to the text. _**'We're getting married this afternoon. It's a secret, so don't tell anyone. Greenock Registry Office. Please come? Im x'**_ Hollie couldn't quite believe what she was reading. She knew that Connor and Imogen were engaged; Imogen had finally managed to find a minute to inform her. But she'd thought that it would be a long engagement. Both of them had said they wanted to go to University and Hollie had assumed that they'd wait until afterwards to get married. Apparently she'd been wrong.

'_**Of course I'll come. I should be back in G at about 12… I'll speak to you then. x'**_

As the message sent, Hollie turned and looked out of the window, all thoughts of going back to sleep completely vanishing from her mind. She chewed her lip as she thought about the wedding that afternoon. Imogen and Connor were the same age as she was and she couldn't imagine getting married. Then again, Hollie couldn't _ever_ imagine getting married.

"Have you two ever considered getting married?" She asked unexpectedly.

There was a violent coughing sound as Jo swallowed the mint she'd been sucking in surprise at the question. Similarly, the car suddenly sped up as Sam jumped and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. When she'd recovered, Jo turned in her seat and fixed the girl with a bemused look.

"What?"

"I was just wondering. I mean… you've been together ages… much longer than Mum and Tom or Connor and Imogen and–"

"Your friends Connor and Imogen?" Jo asked, wondering what Hollie was on about.

"Yeah…" The girl sighed. "They're getting married this afternoon." Her eyes widened slightly. "But you can't say anything because it's a secret."

"Well… they're a bit young, aren't they?" Sam asked, glancing in the mirror and meeting Hollie's eyes.

The teenager shrugged. "Apparently not. So… you two?"

Jo chuckled and glanced at her girlfriend before answering. "We've talked about it, but neither of us particularly wants to get married. Besides, as my Dad always says; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. We're happy as we are."

"Cool…"

"You alright?" Jo asked, slightly confused by Hollie's subdued reaction to her words.

Nodding, the girl sighed. "Just thinking…"

"About…?"

"Nothing very important."

"Hollie?"

"Kevin… I really, really messed up there, didn't I?" She sighed as both women agreed with her. "And I can't fix it. I hurt him too badly."

Jo arched an eyebrow at her. "So, he hasn't been texting you all week? It wasn't him you were on the phone to last night when you disappeared into your room?"

"Well… yeah, but..."

"Sounds to me like there's hope yet." Sam replied, cutting across the teenager before she could finish her sentence.

"He just wants to be friends."

"That never works." The blonde informed her bluntly.

Jo laughed. "Really? So you and Phil Hunter…?"

"OK… it sometimes works." Sam conceded, grinning at her girlfriend. "But the way I see it he doesn't just want to be your friend. If you want him back you'll have to go and get him."

"Boys aren't exactly the best at realising what's good for them." Jo added.

"Like you'd know!" Hollie laughed, poking her tongue out at her proudly lesbian aunt.

Jo shrugged. "Well everyone experiments in their youth, don't they."

"Speak for yourself." Sam told her with a grin. "Unless you count all of my previous relationships as experiments?"

"Of course I do." Her girlfriend agreed, winking at her.

"I'm with Sam on this one." Hollie said. "And I can't imagine Mum would…" She trailed off as Jo pointedly avoided her eyes. "She never…"

"I'm not saying anything!"

Hollie's mouth dropped open in surprise. "And from that I know she did!"

"Jo." Sam cautioned, shaking her head sharply. "Look, Hollie, whatever your Mum did or didn't do, it's in the past. Just like mine and Jo's other relationships are in the past and just like what you did to hurt Kevin is in the past. It's the present and the future that matter now."

"You're right." The teenager agreed, nodding determinedly. She opened her mouth to say something else, when her mobile beeped again and she glanced down at it quickly. A smirk appeared on her face as she read the message.

The detectives exchanged a look. "That Kevin?"

"No…" Hollie mumbled unconvincingly. She sighed. "OK, it is. He's just telling me that his surname's legally changed to Chalk. He's so excited, bless him." As her aunts exchanged another meaningful look, Hollie rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up."

* * *

_**A/N: Hey lovelies! Thanks for reading/reviewing! You're awesome! :)**_

_**If you're interested, the mini-fics I've written (so far) from the prompts I was sent can be found on my tumblr page under the Attempts to Destroy Writers' Block link :)**_

_**x**_


	111. Chapter 111

By the time they'd stopped in Manchester and packed everything into the car – Abi and her son didn't travel light – they made it to Greenock about half an hour before Hollie's exam was due to start. Depositing everything in Tom and Nikki's house, the teenager changed into her school uniform and jumped into the passenger seat of the car. Jo drove her up to the school, kissing her cheek and wishing her luck, before heading back to the house.

Hollie was incredibly nervous as she walked up the slope towards the building. It wasn't nerves about the exam, though. She knew that news of her behaviour would have got round the entire school by now and she was wary about people's reactions to her presence.

"Hol!"

The teenager turned and saw her mother striding along the corridor towards her. For a moment they just looked at each other. Then Hollie wrapped her arms around her mother and buried her face in Nikki's neck, clinging on tightly. The woman sighed and stroked her daughter's hair gently, kissing the side of her head.

"I'm so, so sorry, Mum."

"It's OK, Hol." Nikki whispered, tightening the embrace. "It's OK."

As the silence around them was suddenly broken by the sound of nervous chatter and more teenagers appeared, they broke apart. Nikki stoked her daughter's cheek and winked at her, before moving to the doors into the hall and calling for the students to settle down. Imogen appeared at Hollie's side, tapping her on the shoulder before pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're coming later." She whispered, keeping one eye on Miss Boston.

"I wouldn't miss it." Hollie assured her, equally quietly. "I'm sorry I've been such a crap friend lately."

"You've had a lot going on." Imogen replied with a shrug. "Kevin's missed you."

"Really?"

"Of course!" The Scottish girl laughed.

Swatting her on the arm and rolling her eyes, Hollie looked around. "Where's Scout?"

"I dunno…"

Before she could ask her mother where the blonde girl was, Nikki announced that they needed to take their places in the hall so the exam could begin. Smiling at Imogen, Connor and Rhiannon – who looked as though she was about to be sick – Hollie filed into the room behind the rest of the teenagers and took her seat. The desk next to hers was empty and, as Scout was still nowhere to be seen, she guessed it belonged to her.

"_OK everyone, turn your papers over._" Nikki commanded, walking to the front of the room.

Hollie took a deep breath and looked at the exam paper. She relaxed slightly as she read the questions and realised she knew how to answer them. Her pen flew across the paper as her thoughts tumbled out of her head and onto the sheet. Pausing for a moment, Hollie looked up at the clock. Instead she caught her mother's eye and Nikki smiled encouragingly, her grin widening as Hollie nodded and returned the look. Then the woman's face fell as something behind her daughter caught her attention and she hurried towards the doors.

Turning in her seat, the teenager realised what she was looking at and she dropped her pen. Pushing back her chair, Hollie was out of her seat and running towards the doors before anyone could stop her. She left the hall and reached out, grabbing Scout's arm and staring at her, realising something was wrong.

"_What happened?_" Nikki asked, also seeing that the teenager was distressed. "Hollie, back inside, now!"

"Scout? What's wrong?" Her daughter asked, completely ignoring the order.

"_Am I too late to sit my exam?_" Scout asked, trying not to cry. "_Please, I need to sit it!_"

Nikki wrapped an arm around her as the doors to the hall opened once more and Mr Budgen appeared. "_It's OK… Mr Budgen would you go and tell Mr Byrne that we have a late arrival? _Hollie… go and get on with your exam!"

Reluctantly the brunette went back into the hall ahead of her mother and best friend and took her seat once more. Picking up her pen, she looked sideways as Nikki settled Scout at the table beside hers and smiled reassuringly at her. Hollie tried to work out what could be the matter with her friend; Scout had text her to say that her mother had turned up the day before and Hollie assumed that her Mum had done something to upset her.

"Concentrate." Nikki hissed in a low voice as she passed her daughter.

Hollie jumped and smiled guiltily at the woman, before returning her attention to her exam paper. The rest of the time flew past and, just as she was writing her final sentence, she heard her mother's voice from the front of the hall.

"_OK, that's it. Put your pens down. Close your papers. Make your way out._"

Hollie hesitated, taking longer than was necessary to do as she was asked. She waited for the others to file out, before standing up and moving to kneel beside Scout. Reaching out, she put her hand on her friend's arm, seeing that the blonde didn't seem to be intending to move.

"Babe… what's wrong? Is it your Mum? Has she done something to upset you?" Hollie almost whispered.

At her words, Scout let out a small sob and the brunette wrapped her arms around her tightly, stroking her hair and shushing her. She half expected her mother or one of the other teachers to tell her off, but glancing around she saw that the room was now empty apart from her Mum and Mr Byrne at the front of the hall.

"She died…"

"What?" Hollie almost jumped as her friend spoke.

"My Mum died. I was there. I came straight here…"

"Oh… babe… I'm so sorry." The brunette hugged her tightly again as Scout sobbed quietly.

"_Jodie?_" Nikki murmured softly. Hollie let go of her friend, looking up at her mother and feeling a sudden pang in her chest. She imagined how she'd feel if it was her in Scout's position and wanted to burst into tears. "_You've got another hour, OK? Try and focus, alright?_ Hollie?"

Smiling reassuringly at her friend, who looked relieved at the news she could finish her exam, Hollie stood up and walked out of the hall with her Mum. Once the doors were closed, Nikki looked at her carefully, her eyes roving the teenager's face for any clues about how the exam went.

"Well? Was it OK?"

Hollie nodded. "Yeah… yeah I think so."

Nikki beamed at her and gave her a hug. "Good." When she tried to pull away and found that her daughter was clinging on tightly, she moved her hands to Hollie's face. "Hey? What's wrong?"

"Scout's Mum…"

"I know…" The woman nodded.

"What if it was you…"

"Don't, Hollie." Nikki told her firmly, shaking her head and stroking her daughter's cheek. "I missed you, you know?"

"I missed you too."

The woman laughed. "You do realise you're not going away again? The only Universities you're allowed to apply to are ones within commuting distance so that you can live at home."

Sighing, the teenager grinned. "Deal."

Glancing over her shoulder, Nikki sighed too. "I'd better get back in there. Are you gonna wait around?"

"There's something I need to do." Hollie told her, catching Imogen's eye and nodding sharply. "Can you text me when Scout comes out?"

Promising that she would, Nikki returned to the hall and her daughter made her way over to where Rhiannon and Dynasty were standing.

"You're back then?" Dynasty asked, looking her up and down.

"Looks like it." Hollie agreed.

They stared at each other for a moment and then grinned. Dynasty hugged Hollie quickly, before glancing around. "We've got a wedding to go to."

They made their way over to Imogen and Connor, stealing the girl away and heading back to Dynasty's house. Hollie was nervous of being there, not having seen Barry since she'd got back, but he wasn't there. As they got Imogen ready for her wedding, her nerves evaporated and she got just as excited as the others.

Finally they were satisfied with their efforts and, after a lot of hugging and some tears, they made their way to the Registry office. Hollie kept glancing at her phone to check that her Mum hadn't text her yet.

"Ready?" She asked Imogen as they paused at the bottom of the stairs in the building where Imogen was about to get married.

"Definitely." She agreed.

The three girls exchanged a smile behind the bride as she walked ahead of them up the stairs. They followed slowly, catching sight of Connor's face when his eyes fell on Imogen. Hollie's attention moved to Kevin almost instantly, standing beside his best friend. He, likewise, was looking at her and shot her a small smile.

As the couple met in the middle of the hallway, Dynasty nudged Hollie and grinned. The brunette shook her head slightly and beamed back, biting her lip as they watched the scene in front of them.

"_Connor and Imogen?_" A middle aged woman, presumably the registrar announced, appearing from a doorway to the left.

Hand-in-hand they entered the room, followed by the other teenagers. Kevin and Dynasty, as best man and bridesmaid, took their places at the front while Rhiannon and Hollie took a seat in the front row on either side of the aisle. The brunette had put her mobile on silent, but was clutching it tightly in her hand and kept sneaking glances at it impatiently.

"_We are here today to witness and celebrate the marriage of Connor Mulgrew and Imogen Stewart._" The registrar started. "_Through their words during the ceremony they shall be entering into the commitment of marriage and through your presence as witnesses and guests, you will be expressing your support for them._"

Hollie sneaked a glance in Kevin's direction, feeling herself blushing as their eyes met. He blushed too and both hurriedly looked away, forcing themselves to concentrate on what Imogen was saying.

"_Connor, I pledge to you my heart and my soul. I promise to understand you, support you and adore you for as long as we live. Just… thank you. Thank you for finding me._"

"_Imogen, I was lost before but I never knew it so much until I met you. But then I knew what I'd been missing. It was you. You're the other half to me and with you by my side everything finally makes sense. Whenever your heart beats, wherever you are, I can feel it. Nothing, not time or distance, not anything that anyone throws at us can ever change that._"

As Connor finished talking, Hollie's mobile vibrated on her lap and she looked down, quickly opening the text from her Mum. _**'J's finished… I'm not sure where she's gone. xx'**_ The girl bit her lip, wondering what to do.

Deciding that Scout was more in need of her than the others, she stood quickly, mouthed 'sorry' at her friends and hurried from the room. Selecting Scout's number from her contacts list, she held the phone to her ear and waited for the girl to answer.

"Hollie?"

"Where are you?"

"At the hospital."

Nodding, Hollie left the Registry Office and looked left and right before running across the road. "I'm on my way… stay there, OK? Promise?"

"I will…"

Pushing her mobile into her jacket pocket, she almost sprinted through the streets towards the hospital, pushing people aside in her rush to get to her friend. Spotting Scout sitting on the steps up to the building with their headmaster, Hollie slowed slightly, not wanting to crash into a moment.

She watched from below them as Maggie appeared at the top of the steps and smiled. Mr Byrne stood up and headed towards Hollie. He paused beside her and glanced back, before reaching out and squeezing her shoulder.

"Keep an eye on her." He said gently.

"Is she alright, Sir?"

"She will be." The man said with a nod. "As long as she knows she can rely on you and her mates."

Nodding, Hollie looked to where her friend was and saw that Maggie was beckoning her over. Smiling at Mr Byrne, she ran up the stairs and hugged Scout tightly.


	112. Chapter 112

"D'you wanna come round ours?" Hollie asked after a while, glancing sideways at her friend. "Jo, Sam, Abi and Harry are there as well as Mum, Tom and Josh… it might take your mind off things for a while."

Scout smiled weakly. "Thanks, but no thanks. I just want to be on my own."

"You'd better get back to school, love." Maggie suggested. "I told your Mum I'd send you'd back."

They both glanced warily at Scout as the word 'Mum' sank in. She laughed softly. "You can say the word Mum, you know. It's not your fault." As Hollie got to her feet, Scout reached out and grabbed her hand. "Don't fight with your Mum anymore, Hol… You never know when your last fight will be and it might be too late to make up with her."

Hollie nodded and squeezed her hand tightly. "I promise."

On her walk back to school, the teenager thought over what Scout had said. Her friend was right; you never knew when your time was up and Hollie really didn't want to waste any more of it. She'd already spent far too long away from her Mum and a lot of the time they'd spent together lying or arguing. It was pointless and stupid.

As she reached the gates of the school, she saw Tom walking towards her with Mr Chalk and Kevin. Suddenly she realised that Scout's advice didn't just apply to her Mum. Walking quickly towards them, she took a deep breath.

"_Take care, mate._" Tom said as she got close enough to hear what they were saying.

"_You too, Tom._" Mr Chalk replied, shaking his hand.

They both glanced over as Hollie approached, smiling. Tom grinned at her. "How did the exam go?"

"Great." She muttered distractedly, her eyes fixed on Kevin's.

Slightly nervously Hollie stopped in front of him. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of the front of his blazer and kissed him. For a moment Kevin didn't respond. Wondering whether she'd completely misjudged things, Hollie started to pull away. Her movements were stopped, however, as Kevin wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and held her close, deepening the kiss. Hollie draped her arms around his neck, feeling as though her heart was going to burst out of her chest with happiness.

They broke apart as the sound of two embarrassed coughs broke through the moment. As they turned to look at the men standing beside them, Kevin kept his arm around her and Hollie was unable to stop smiling.

"We'd better get going." Mr Chalk said with a knowing smile.

"Yeah and we'd better go and track down your Mum." Tom added, smirking at his step-daughter. "She was with Michael and Lorraine, but seeing as Michael's just driven off with Christine, I'm guessing she'll be free."

Kevin kissed Hollie quickly, told her he'd text her later and left with his foster father. Tom shook his head at the girl and put his arm loosely around her shoulders. Together they walked slowly up the steps and into the school, Tom asking about her time in London and Hollie answering as best she could without telling him about what had happened the day before. She wanted to tell her Mum first; she owed her that.

"How have things been here? How's Josh? He text me the other day about some new band he's going to see at the weekend."

"Yeah… I've heard their stuff on his computer. It sounds awful. Give me Muse or Oasis any day."

Hollie giggled. "Whatever; you can't fool me, Mr Clarkson. I live with you, remember? I've seen your CD collection. You have more than your fair share of cheesy pop."

"Shh!" He clamped a hand over her mouth jokily and the teenager fought to forget the last time someone had done that and remember that Tom wouldn't hurt her. "Don't go ruining my reputation, kid!"

"What reputation?" She joked, squealing as he adjusted his arm around her shoulders and caught her in a loose headlock.

They laughed as he let go and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We missed you."

"I missed you too." Hollie replied at once, gazing up at him and smiling. "You know… if anyone asked me about my Dad I'd tell them about you."

Tom looked at her for a moment, his eyes widening slightly at her words. Then his face cracked into a bright, beaming grin. "Good, because you're just as much a daughter to me as Josh."

"You think of Josh as your daughter?" She teased, choosing to misunderstand his words. "No wonder he fancies boys."

They both burst out laughing again, shoving each other's shoulders gently as they headed along the corridor in search of Nikki. Before they turned into the PRU corridor, a blonde figure almost barrelled into them. Lorraine stopped hurriedly as she dropped the pile of folders in her arms. Hurriedly Hollie bent to help scoop them up. She smiled at the woman, slightly confused at the look she received in return. Lorraine looked like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"You OK, Miss?" She asked in confusion.

"Err… yeah? Course." Lorraine replied quickly, looking anything but alright. "How was your thing? With the police?"

"It was good, thanks. I'm glad to be home, though."

Tom handed Lorraine the final escaped file with a smile. "I don't suppose you know where Nikki is, do you?"

"What? No? Why should I?" The blonde demanded, almost defensively.

"No reason?" The man exchanged a confused look with his step-daughter who just shrugged.

Hollie's mind started to wander back to the conversation she'd had with her aunts about marriage and experimenting. Lorraine's reaction to being asked about Nikki was causing the teenager to make connections that almost definitely weren't there. She shook her head slightly, cursing her over-active imagination and following Tom as he started heading along the corridor again after saying goodbye to the blonde.

"What's on your mind?" Tom asked as the teenager frowned lightly.

She jumped. "Oh, nothing."

"You sure?" He nudged her gently with his shoulder. "You can talk to me, you know."

"I know." She agreed with a nod and a smile. "It's really nothing."

Letting the matter drop, Tom led the way through the corridors until they tracked Nikki down. She was walking towards them with her head bowed and her face screwed up as though she was deep in thought. Even when her fiancé and daughter called out to her, she didn't seem to notice their presence and almost walked straight past them. When Tom reached out and grasped her bicep, Nikki jumped and looked up warily.

"Mum?"

The woman forced herself to smile warmly, wrapping an arm around the teenager and pressing a kiss into her hair. "Hey, baby, you OK? How's Jodi?"

Hollie raised an eyebrow at her mother's unusual term of addressing her, but didn't comment. "She's alright… well… sort of. As alright as she can be seeing as her Mum's just died."

"Yeah…" The woman sighed deeply. "Come on; let's get home. I want to hear all about your time in London."

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for your patience with me guys! My life is hectic at the moment and inspiration is failing a bit. :/ Hopefully it won't be for long, though... especially as WR is back next week! :D**_

_**x**_


	113. Chapter 113

_**A/N: I know, I know, I'm useless! It's been FAR too long since I updated and I have lots of excuses (which are all true!) from going on holiday to working to my internet deciding to be rubbish. The last one is the reason why this isn't exactly the chapter I'd planned. I wanted to rewatch the episode, but at the moment my internet isn't playing ball so I can't. I tweaked it a bit to mean that didn't matter so much. Hopefully it's OK! :)**_

_**x**_

* * *

Half term went far too quickly for Hollie's liking. With Mr Chalk moving down to London and Kevin moving into the School House, the teenagers didn't get a chance to see each other. Jo's family being around meant that there was no room or time to think, but it meant that there was also no time for Hollie to dwell on what had happened in Sun Hill. She had told her Mum everything as soon as they got home and, after some reassurance from Jo and Sam that she was perfectly safe, Nikki decided that she was relieved at the turn of events.

Hollie thought that her Mum was acting a little oddly, it was almost as though she was overcompensating for something, although the teenager had no idea why. Nikki kept bringing up the wedding, discussing the details until everyone was sick of them. It was curious, but the woman gave no hint as to what could have been bothering her and no one else seemed to notice. When Hollie asked Jo if she thought Nikki was acting oddly, the older woman just shrugged and said that she couldn't tell the difference.

Soon enough Monday morning arrived and the familiar panic hit the Boston-Clarkson household. Jo, Sam, Abi and Harry were readying themselves to drive back to Manchester, Nikki was stressing about her new appointment as joint Deputy Head, Tom was trying to simultaneously reassure her and hunt down his mobile which seemed to have gone missing since the evening before, Josh was oblivious to everyone around him while eating cereal and listening to music through his headphones and Hollie was half asleep, her head resting on her hand as she prodded listlessly at her own breakfast.

"Let's go!" Nikki urged, glancing at the time and sighing in exasperation. "We're going to be late!" As she walked past her step-son, she pinged one of the sides of his headphones, attracting his attention. "Move!"

After a round of goodbyes, during which Hollie attempted to smuggle Abi's three-year-old son out with her, the four of them climbed into Tom's car and headed towards school. Within ten minutes he was parking and they were saying hasty goodbyes and separating hurriedly.

Hollie joined her friends, immediately finding herself pulled into Kevin for a long kiss. She barely noticed Scout and Zoe's mock disgust as the pair linked their arms and wandered towards the main entrance, leaving the newly reunited couple to catch up.

"What d'you reckon's gonna happen this term then?" Scout asked, leaning against the wall as they chatted before separating to head to their own classrooms.

"Hopefully nothing exciting." Hollie sighed, shaking her head. "I'd just like some normality for a while."

"Like that's gonna happen around here." The blonde snorted and linked her arm with Zoe's once more. The pair waved as they headed towards the PRU, while Kevin slung his arm over Hollie's shoulders and they made their way to registration.

With a double free first thing, Hollie headed to the library, fully intending to copy up the Maths notes Kevin had lent her from the lessons she'd missed. As she turned the corner, she walked straight into someone, mumbling an apology before she looked up to see who it was.

"You're back then." Barry smirked. "Miss me?"

"Piss off."

"That's not very nice, is it? Considering how I looked after you the last time I saw you."

Hollie glared at him, backing away slightly. "I mean it, piss off."

"What're you gonna do?" He asked, advancing on her as she continued to move further from him. "Tell your Mummy?"

"Seriously, Barry, I mean it! Just leave me alone!"

"What's going on?" A voice cut through the tension. Hollie didn't think she'd ever been as relieved to hear the harsh voice of the blonde Londoner who now came to her rescue. "What are you doing out of the PRU, Barry?"

"Just fetching something from the library, Miss."

"Yeah? Well get on with it." Lorraine ordered, folding her arms and waiting for him to comply.

As he turned and swaggered away, Hollie let out a small sigh and leant heavily against the wall. She hadn't really considered what would happen when she ran into Barry after everything. All she knew was that she needed to stay away from him.

"You alright?" Lorraine asked, concern evident in her eyes.

The teenager nodded. "Yeah…"

"You don't look alright to me." She shrugged.

"I'm just… half term was mental with my Aunts and Abi and Harry round and Mum was acting a bit weird and Barry… I'm OK."

Lorraine's eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly. "Nikki's been acting strange? How?"

"Just a bit… odd. I don't know. Why?"

"She is the new deputy, if something's wrong that's going to affect the school–" The blonde started, almost too quickly.

Hollie narrowed her eyes. "Cut the crap, Miss Donegan. Why are you so bothered about my Mum acting weird? Did something happen before half term?"

"What? What are you on about?"

The teenager didn't buy her confusion for a second and her eyes narrowed. "Oh my god it did… what happened?"

"Look, I dunno what you're getting at." Lorraine replied hurriedly, a frown pulling down the corners of her lips as she attempted to escape the girl's questions. "But I've got somewhere I need to be, so excuse me."

"No way!" Hollie grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an empty classroom, blocking the door and preventing the woman's escape.

"I'm warning you now, if you don't let me out–"

"I just wanna know what you said to my Mum! Or what she said to you. It must have been something because when me and Tom bumped into you that night you were all spaced out and you got all weird when we asked if you'd seen Mum. Then she was acting all odd too. She called me baby… she never calls me baby. Did you have a fight or something?"

"I can't remember…"

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Listen to me, Hollie, if you don't get out of my way and let me get to my meeting that you'll be out of here so fast you won't even have time to complain." Lorraine threatened, moving closer to the teenager. If anything, her words just raised Hollie's suspicions further.

Taking a stab in the dark, the teenager frowned. "Do you fancy my Mum?"

"Wh-What?"

As Lorraine faltered, Hollie's mouth dropped open. "Oh my god, you do! Bloody hell… shit. I didn't actually think… crap."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Nikki is my friend and employee, nothing more." The blonde was babbling, obviously having no idea how to handle the situation or the teenager. "I'm really running late now."

Not sure what exactly was going on or how to deal with what she'd just found out, Hollie stood aside with no argument, letting Lorraine practically run out of the classroom and away along the corridor. Sitting heavily on a table, the girl considered what she should do. Should she ask her Mum about it, or should she pretend not to know anything about it? Was it one-sided, or was that why her Mum was acting so oddly; because she liked Lorraine too? Had anything actually happened between them? Were her and Tom going to split up?

Hollie really didn't know what to do. She was itching to speak to her Mum, but barging into the PRU didn't seem like a particularly good idea. Nikki really wouldn't appreciate her causing such a fuss and, if nothing else, it would cause the rumour mills to go into overdrive. Gossip was something they could all do without; they'd been the cause of enough of it already.

Shouldering her bag with a sigh, the teenager decided to try and forget about the conversation she'd just had. It would be easier said than done, but she'd give it her best shot.


	114. Chapter 114

"You're quiet tonight, Hol." Tom pointed out as they sat around the kitchen table that evening.

"Huh?"

"First day back at school tired you out?" He joked, chuckling as she blinked at him in confusion.

"No… yeah… maybe. I guess I'm tired." She babbled, still stabbing at her dinner absentmindedly with her fork. She'd noticed that Nikki was just as distracted as she was and that worried her immensely. "I think… sorry, I'm not hungry."

Standing up before anyone could stop her, Hollie scraped her dinner into the food waste bin, left the plate on the side and rushed upstairs to her bedroom. Closing the door with a thud, she dropped onto her bed, folding her hands over her stomach and staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't get her conversation, however one-sided it had been, with Lorraine out of her head. The implications were almost suffocating.

Without knocking, Josh opened the door and walked in, dropping down beside her and nudging Hollie until she moved over enough for him to lie beside her. Arching an eyebrow at him, she stared at her step-brother until he sighed and rolled over onto his side facing her, urging her to do the same.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Josh. I'm just tired."

"OK… are you ill?"

"No."

"Scared?"

"No."

"Nervous."

"No."

"Pregnant."

"Hell no!" She assured him immediately.

Josh pouted a little. "Really? Because I'd be an awesome uncle. Although it would be a total Jeremy Kyle moment because, let's face it, you wouldn't have any idea whether it was Kevin's or Barry's."

Hollie punched him in the arm, then she sighed. "I'm none of those things, OK? If you really must know I…" She faltered. She couldn't tell Josh what was really bothering her. But she could confide in him about Barry. "I forgot I'd bump into Barry Barry every time I turned a corner."

"Ah…"

"How is it possible that he turned up pretty much everywhere I went?" Hollie demanded. "Is he stalking me or something? Seriously, it's a little bit creepy. And I know Kevin's worried. He wants to trust me, but I wouldn't trust me either. I don't trust me."

Josh pulled her closer and rolled onto his back. Hollie sighed and buried her face in his chest, relaxing slightly as he ran his fingers through her hair. Perhaps it was because he was gay and she knew that he had absolutely no interest in her, other than as his sister, that she felt completely safe with him. Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.

"Ho–" Nikki stopped abruptly as she entered her daughter's bedroom and saw the teenagers curled up on top of the covers fast asleep. She smiled and retreated quietly, pulling the door closed behind her.

* * *

"Earth to Hollie?"

The teenager jumped as Scout waved a hand in her face. "What?"

"We're being let loose in the real world." The blonde told her with a grin, Zoe sitting beside her on the desk in front of Hollie. "We're back in normal classes today."

"Why? Where's Mum?"

"Dunno, but she's not teaching us today."

"She's got more important things to do, apparently!" Zoe laughed, reaching out with her foot and kicking her friend gently.

"Like what?" Hollie asked, arching an eyebrow. When they simply shrugged, not seeming remotely bothered, she grabbed her bag. "I'll meet you in History… I need to go and sort something quickly."

Leaving them staring after her in confusion, the girl almost sprinted out of the form room and through the corridors. She took the stairs two at a time and threw herself round the corner, coming to a halt outside the Deputies' office. For a moment or two she just looked at the handle, wondering whether to go in or not.

Then, taking a steadying breath, she turned the handle and walked inside. Her words caught in her throat as she saw Lorraine sitting on the desk, leaning towards her mother who was in her desk chair, smirking at the blonde.

"What the hell?" Hollie couldn't stop herself exclaiming as her eyes flickered between the two women. "Really?"

"Hollie!" Lorraine pushed herself off the desk quickly and strode past the shell-shocked girl and closed the door firmly. "Listen… we were just talking about your Mum observing the other teachers classes."

Nikki looked confused as to why the blonde had reacted like she had. "What's…?"

"I know." Her daughter told her firmly, clenching her jaw. "I know about you and her."

"What?" The brunette breathed, her eyes widening in horror. "Hollie… how…?"

"It wasn't that difficult to figure out. I just… I wanna know what's going to happen."

"Can we talk about this later?" Nikki asked, sighing, but reaching forward to grasp her daughter's shoulders. "I promise we'll talk about this and I'll tell you anything you want to know, but I really have to go and observe Mr Byrne teaching."

Hollie hesitated, not wanting to let her off the hook so easily, but also not really sure what she wanted to know. Slowly she nodded. "I've got to get to Maths, anyway…"

"Later, sweetheart!" Nikki called after the teenager as she made a hasty retreat from the office, not looking at Lorraine as she passed.

All through Maths Hollie struggled to concentrate on what she was supposed to be doing. By the end of the double lesson she had only completed three of the problems they'd been set and Mr Richards ordered her to complete the pages before their next lesson or she'd spend it in the cooler. With a deep sigh, Hollie gathered her things and left the classroom with her friends, not joining in their conversations.

During break time, she did her best to act normally, fending off all questions about what was bothering her. It was a relief when the bell rang and they grabbed their bags and headed off to Mrs McFall's classroom for History.

"Have you started the essay yet?" Kevin asked as the couple took their seats at the desk behind the one Imogen and Connor were sitting at.

"The primary and secondary sources one?" She questioned, lining up her books and notepad on the surface. "Yeah… I haven't done much of it, though. It's not due until Monday, is it?"

"No." He conceded with a shrug. "You wanna do it together?"

"Ey up!" Jack laughed, leaning over to push Kevin's shoulder.

"I was talking about the essay, idiot." Kevin rolled his eyes and shoved his friend back.

Hollie rolled her eyes at them and was about to turn and speak to Imogen, when the classroom door opened and her mother walked in. She caught the teenager's eye for a moment and smiled weakly, before turning to speak to Mrs McFall. The History teacher didn't look particularly impressed by whatever had been said, but she didn't complain as Nikki walked to the back of the classroom and took a seat at the table next to her daughter's.

"What's your Mum doing here?" Kevin asked in a low voice once Mrs McFall was occupied with talking to Naz and Rhiannon.

Shrugging, the teenager flicked through the text book that had just landed on their desk. "How should I know? It's not like she tells me everything."

"Are you OK?"

"For god's sake, Kev!" Hollie snapped, louder than she'd intended.

"Hollie!" Mrs McFall scolded from the front of the classroom. "If you've finished with those paragraphs then you can read them to the rest of us."

With a sigh, the girl did as she was told, reading out the chunk of text they'd just been instructed to read in silence. She could feel Nikki's eyes boring into the side of her head, but resolutely kept her eyes on the book and then, when she'd finished, she stared at Mrs McFall almost challengingly.

"So, Hollie, what do you think about the Battle of Britain? Was it the major turning point of the Second World War?"

"Well, it was definitely really important." The teenager shrugged. "I mean, it was Hitler's first major defeat and the end to his dream of global domination. No other battle in WWII was so pivotal. Then again, there were other major moments that contributed. If the Germans hadn't decided to stop the advance in France, then it wouldn't have allowed the British and French to re-embark in Dunkirk. The US joining the war was a major turning point too and Hitler deciding to invade Russia, rather than the UK. It was all a combination of factors, really."

The teacher beamed. "Good answer. Now, you've all heard Hollie's opinion, I want you to come up with your own. No less than 500 words on what you believe to be the turning point, or points, of the war."

Once they'd all settled down to work again, Hollie sneaked a glance in her mother's direction and saw that Nikki was watching her closely. Blushing as she met her eyes, the teenager looked back at her notepad determinedly. She immersed herself in what she was doing until, just before the bell rang, Kevin nudged her shoulder and looked through the window into the corridor.

"_Is that your boyfriend, Miss?_" He asked, pointing to the young man waving through the window at their History teacher.

Hollie smirked as Mrs McFall rolled her eyes. "_Right, remember please, I want your essays on the benefits of primary and secondary sources for next lesson, please. No excuses… Rhiannon Salt._"

Grabbing her things, Hollie left the classroom while her mother was still writing something in her notebook, heading for the safety of the common room.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Special thanks to **_**CBurns1995**_**, **_**Ordinarycasgirl**_**, **_**LucyMaxine**_**, **_**jayjaybee**_**, **_**Song in the Tardis**_** and **_**CharmedAngel2013**_** for your reviews on the last chapter - and everyone who's reviewed ANY chapter! You're all awesome! :D**_

_**x**_


	115. Chapter 115

"_Seriously?_" Kevin asked when they met up with Dynasty, Scout and Zoe in the playground a short while later. "_Rhiannon and Naz are sleeping together?_"

"_Hopefully it was in the dark. Rhiannon would be pretty frightening with the lights on._" The blonde said spitefully.

Imogen frowned at her. "_Don't be mean. I think it's cute!_"

"Besides, where's your boyfriend?" Hollie asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You finally decided between Kev and my brother then?" Dynasty shot back, narrowing her eyes.

Hollie glared at her, but Kevin's arm around her shoulders tightened and she didn't react. Instead she just smiled up at him and suggested that they went to get something to eat. He nodded and the seven of them headed inside and towards the canteen. Making their way along the corridor, they spotted Nikki and Lorraine walking towards them and Hollie immediately stiffened slightly.

"Your Mum and Miss Donegan seem to be quite close lately." Imogen pointed out innocently once the two women had passed, sending small smiles at the group.

"What?" Hollie shot back.

"I mean, your Mum getting made Deputy and Miss Donegan getting her to do these lesson observations and stuff."

Shrugging, Hollie forced her face into an expression of indifference. "Oh… I dunno. It's just school stuff… I'm not interested."

"You haven't had another argument, have you?" Scout asked worriedly, pulling her friend aside while the others joined the lunch queue.

"No." Smiling, the girl squeezed her friend's arm reassuringly. "No, we haven't. I just… I need to talk to her about something and… I don't really know what to say…"

"Are you pregnant?"

"What?!" Hollie stared at her. "You're the second person to ask me that. I am not pregnant."

"So what is it, then?" The blonde persisted.

For a moment the other girl hesitated, considering telling her friend everything. Then she sighed and shook her head. "I can't… maybe once it's all sorted… but I can't tell you at the moment. It wouldn't be fair and… If it got out…"

"I get it." Scout nodded with a smile. "Is it about her and Mr Clarkson?"

"Sort of… maybe."

Evidently confused by the roundabout comments, Scout shrugged. She didn't push the issue, however, and they joined the others in the lunch queue. Neither of them mentioned it throughout the remainder of lunch time and, as the group made their way towards the English corridor when the bell rang for afternoon lessons, the blonde pushed her arm through her best friend's.

"You're sitting with me in Clarkson's lesson, alright?" She said firmly. "Just because you and Kev are back together it doesn't mean he gets to sit with you all the time."

"Yeah!" Zoe agreed, linking her other arm. "And then you're sitting by me in Mulgrew's. We've hardly seen you since you got back from London!"

"OK, OK!" Hollie laughed. "Sorry, babe, you'll have to find a new friend for the afternoon."

As they settled themselves into their seats in Tom's classroom – Scout and Hollie at one table, Zoe and Imogen beside them and Kevin and Connor behind them – Nikki opened the classroom door and smiled at her fiancé. Hollie sighed and looked down at her books.

"_Now._" Tom started, moving to the front of the classroom after a quick conversation with the brunette. "_This isn't a foreign language. This is our language and today we're going to claim it back. So I want you to look through the text I've just given you and find these words and write down what you think they mean. In your pairs, please._"

"Is your Mum stalking you?" Scout joked once everyone settled into the task, glancing over her shoulder to where Nikki was sitting at the back of the room.

"What?"

"Are you having a problem understanding English today?" The blonde asked, raising her eyebrow. "You keep asking that."

"I don't understand what you're going on about."

"Well, Kev said that she was observing your History lesson with McFall earlier and now she's here."

Hollie rolled her eyes. "She's just doing what she was asked to do."

"Yeah, well, if she's observing Mulgrew next lesson then she's definitely keeping an eye on you as well as the teachers." Scout informed her with the air of someone who knew what she was talking about.

"Don't be an idiot."

"I'm not! Whatever it is you need to talk to her about, clearly she's–"

"_Mr Clarkson, can we have a quick word with Rhiannon, please?_" Mr Byrne and Maggie appeared in the classroom. Immediately the two girls forgot all about their conversation and focused on the promise of gossip.

"_Err… the rest of you get on with your work._" Tom ordered.

Scout smirked. "As if."

"_Rhiannon?_"

"_I've done nothing wrong._" The red-head argued, not moving from her seat.

"_They've just been using you._" Maggie told her strongly, moving through the seats to stand beside the teenager. "_Wise up, you silly little girl. He only slept with you so they could get at me!_"

Hollie looked at her best friend and raised her eyebrows, Scout mirroring her expression as they tried not to laugh. "This is better than soaps…"

"_That's quite enough, Mrs Budgeon._" Mr Byrne tried to calm the situation down as a soft murmur and quiet laughter ran through the room. "_Rhiannon, please… Rhiannon, step outside, please._"

"_Naz, I never…_" Rhiannon started, but trailed off as he looked away.

Hollie felt a pang of sympathy for the other girl as she stood up and trailed out of the classroom, followed by more laughter, closing the door behind her. Frowning, the brunette bit her lip and sighed, shaking her head lightly.

"_Alright, show's over._" Tom told them. "_Get on with your work._"

The rest of the lesson passed in silence, except when Mr Clarkson asked them to feedback on what they'd been doing. Hollie refused to volunteer any answers, feeling her mother's gaze on the back of her head. Instead she slouched down in her seat and, when Tom asked her and Scout for their opinion, she pushed her book towards the blonde and let her answer.

"Reckon your Mum's gonna watch this lesson too?" Zoe whispered in her ear as they sat down in Mrs Mulgrew's classroom a short while later.

"I really hope not." Hollie sighed. "I can't concentrate knowing she's watching. Besides, how am I supposed to stand up there and do my speech with my Mum listening? How unfair is that?"

Her friend laughed and pulled out her books, waiting for the lesson to begin. Mrs Mulgrew smiled round at them, before her gaze settled in the doorway and her grin widened.

"_Umm… Mrs Mulgrew?_" A familiar voice called from the doorway.

Hollie groaned and rested her head on her arms. She was starting to almost believe that Scout might have been right about her Mum keeping an eye on her. There were loads of teachers in the school and yet Nikki had managed to observe three of her lessons that day. It was irritating to say the least.

"_Welcome, Miss Boston, please find yourself a seat._" The Scottish woman said easily, still smiling at her calmly.

"_Thank you…_"

"_Your feedback will be really useful; especially on class dynamic and how well they're engaging._" She nodded slightly, before moving her gaze around the room. "_Now, the Romans were great orators, but we've had our own brilliant public speakers. Think of Churchill._"

"Or Hitler." Hollie muttered under her breath, causing Zoe to snort with amusement. She hurriedly turned it into a cough as their teacher raised an eyebrow at her.

"'_We will fight them on the beaches!'_" Kevin quoted enthusiastically, making Hollie laugh and lean forwards to prod him in the head with her pen. He turned round and winked at her, making her laugh again.

"_Thanks, Kevin. I take it that's you volunteering _yourself or Hollie _to go first?_"

"No way." The girl said firmly, shaking her head.

"I'll do it." Kevin saved her quickly, sending his girlfriend a quick smile.

"_Good._" Mrs Mulgrew nodded. "_Now, remember… speak with feeling, from the heart. I want you to move us with your rhetoric._" As Kevin stood, shooting Hollie another cocky wink as he did so, Rhiannon left her seat and moved quickly to the front of the class. "_Err… Rhiannon?_"

"_Me and Naz never slept together._" She admitted, causing everyone to stare at her in confusion. "_I were lying when I said we did._"

The blonde teacher glanced warily at the class, before frowning. "_Rhiannon… do you mind?_"

"_I just imagined it all in my head. 'Cos I've never done it before and everybody else has and I just said it to shut them up._"

"_What a total sad case._" Dynasty laughed.

Hollie turned to glare at her, but Naz was on his feet before she could open her mouth. "_No, you're the sad case._"

"_Come on, that's enough._" Mrs Mulgrew ordered. "_Everybody, calm down. Nasir, Rhiannon, off to the cooler._"

"_Why us?_"

"_Just do it. You clearly have some things to sort out._"

Once they'd left, the class settled down and Mrs Mulgrew signalled for Kevin to stand up and give his speech. He talked about a particular foster home he'd been in and, although Hollie had heard it several times already when he'd been writing it and then practising, she smiled encouragingly. When he sat down and the next person was called up, she clenched her hands, not looking forward to hearing her own name called out.

* * *

_**A/N: I love how mixed the response has been to Nikki/Tom vs Nikki/Lorraine! But you'll just have to see where this ends up! :P (read - I haven't really decided yet! :P)**_

_**Thank you, as always. You're all fantastic! :D**_

_**x **_


	116. Chapter 116

"Hollie?" Mrs Mulgrew called finally once almost the whole class had made their speeches.

Scout had talked about her Mum; how difficult their relationship had been, but how she'd felt when Tina had died. Zoe had made her speech about growing up on the Jasmine Allen Estate and the expectations and problems that went with it. She had steered clear of touchy subjects and only mentioned Hollie a couple of times when talking about how friends became your family.

Resolutely avoiding looking at her mother as she reached the front of the classroom, Hollie took a deep breath and trained her gaze on the door so that she didn't have to meet anyone's eyes. No one had heard her speech and, although they'd asked about it, she wouldn't even tell them what it was about. The girl also hadn't bargained on her mother being in the room when she made it.

"When I was younger my Gran told me that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." She started, slightly shakily. "I didn't really know what she meant at the time; I thought she just meant what I looked like. We were getting ready to go to a Christmas Party with her Church group at the time and she didn't approve of what I was wearing which, let's be honest, wasn't exactly new.

"But then I realised that she wasn't just talking about appearance. The last time I saw her, Gran tried to slap me because I told her that, even though we're apparently both inherently bad, I'd rather be like my Mum than her any day. Although inherently bad to my Grandmother meant getting an A rather than an A+ in an exam or having a mind of your own and making your own decisions.

"The idea that I was inherently bad was the reason why I spent that week in London with the police. I did… I did some things when I was younger that hurt my family and friends and I needed to try and make amends. You can't erase the past and you can't take back things you wish you'd never said or done. I know, because I've tried. But you can change and you can realise that you need to do things differently. If you really want to you can be better.

"So I started. While I was in London I did something that terrified me; something that isn't over yet and will only get scarier and scarier. I had to face up to… things… that I would have preferred to have stayed in the past. But the past has a habit of coming back when you least expect it and, even though I really don't want to face these things, in the long run it's for the best." Hollie clenched her fists, coming to the end of her speech. "It is possible to change, to become a better person than you think you're capable of, if you have support and people who love you and believe in you. That's the most important part; family and friends. I never had it before, but now I do and now I really can change."

With a small nod, the teenager walked back to her seat and sat down, keeping her eyes lowered. Slowly a ripple of applause ran around the room as the class seemed to take in her words. Mrs Mulgrew nodded and quietly called up the next speaker.

"Are you OK?" Zoe asked softly, rubbing Hollie's arm.

"Yeah… I just…"

"You didn't want to make your speech in front of your Mum?" Zoe asked knowingly. When her friend nodded, the girl smiled. "What happened in London?"

Hollie bit her lip. "I made a statement against Gavin."

"What?" The darker girl breathed, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Hol… he'll kill you."

"I had to, Zo. He came to see me… he threatened me not to tell anyone what… but then he beat up one of his girls because he was angry with me." She explained. "I didn't have a choice… he's dangerous."

"Hollie? Zoe? Are you listening?" Mrs Mulgrew cut through their conversation, making both girls jump.

They apologised quickly and sat in silence as the day came to an end and the teacher assigned the homework for their next lesson. When she finally let them go they gathered their things and left. Hollie kept her head down, hoping she'd be able to escape while her Mum was talking to Mrs Mulgrew.

She had no such luck, however, as Nikki grabbed her arm as she passed. "Hollie, wait a minute. I just need a quick word with Christine, but then I really want to talk to you."

With a sigh, her daughter nodded and leant against the doorframe, waiting while the woman gave feedback on the lesson she'd just observed. Her mouth seemed to have gone dry and she couldn't help shivering slightly as her entire body felt as though it had been submerged in ice. Hollie was sure that her Mum would want to talk about the speech she'd just made, as well as the whole Lorraine situation, which made her incredibly uncomfortable.

After a couple of moments Nikki turned and walked towards the door, her heels clicking on the ground as she got closer. With a smile she wrapped an arm around the teenager's shoulders and pressed a kiss to her head, before leading her out of the room. They went straight to the office she shared with Tom, knowing that he was out taking football practise.

"Are you OK?" Nikki asked finally, perching on her desk beside her chair where Hollie had settled herself. "Your speech… what you said…"

"It was all true." The girl said, almost defensively.

"I know that, sweetheart." She laughed softly. "That's not what I was getting at. Did my mother really tell you that we're inherently bad?"

Hollie nodded. "Yeah. Aren't you more bothered that she tried to hit me?"

"Of course I am. Jo told me that she stopped her. If I'd been there…"

"I know." Hollie nodded. "But… I meant what I said about changing."

Nikki moved the chair closer to her and leant forward, running her hands through her daughter's hair, before putting them gently on her cheeks. "I know you're scared about giving that statement and having to give evidence, but I'm going to be here for you, whatever happens."

"By whatever happens do you mean if you split up with Tom?"

The woman breathed in sharply and moved back a little. Hollie grabbed her hands to stop her moving too far. "It's complicated."

"So tell me." The girl urged.

"I love Tom, I really do, and I don't want to hurt him."

"But you like Lorraine as well." Hollie nodded. "I know the feeling."

"Kevin and Barry?" Nikki asked, suddenly understanding.

"I couldn't help myself."

"You mean… you actually felt something for Barry? It wasn't just…"

The teenager sighed and shook her head. "I might have been paid for sex before, but I'm not in the habit of doing it for free for the sake of it."

"Hol… I didn't mean…"

"No, I know." Hollie assured her quickly, smiling and squeezing their joined hands. "Weird, isn't it? Barry is the last person that I should have fallen for after everything but… I guess you don't always get a choice. Someone's going to get hurt in this situation – Tom or Lorraine and, probably, you – but that's kind of unavoidable at this point. What I'm trying to say is that whatever happens I'm not gonna blame you or judge you because you're my Mum and I love you."

Without warning, Nikki burst into tears. Hollie leapt out of her seat and wrapped her arms around the brunette, hugging her tightly as she sobbed.


	117. Chapter 117

"Where's your Mum?" Tom asked as Hollie dumped her school bag on the sofa in the living room and switched on the TV.

Glancing up slightly nervously and meeting her step-father's eyes, the girl shrugged. "Auntie Jo phoned to talk to her about the trial and stuff, so she stayed at school. She said she wouldn't be too long, though."

"How are you feeling about everything?"

"Fine." Hollie replied vaguely, guilt twisting in her stomach at his gentle tone. Turning the TV off and grabbing her bag, she motioned towards the stairs, hoping that Tom would assume her sudden discomfort was about giving evidence against Gavin and nothing else. "I better go and make a start on my homework…"

"OK. We're having stir fry tonight, so it doesn't matter that your Mum might be late."

Smiling, she nodded and escaped upstairs as quickly as possible. Shutting her door, Hollie switched her laptop on and pulled her mobile out of her pocket, scrolling through her messages until she saw 'Mum'. Selecting the conversation, she began typing, jumping as the start-up music from her computer broke the silence.

'_**I told Tom you were still at school talking to Auntie Jo about the trial and things. Don't be long. x'**_

As she was typing in her password and waiting for the desktop to appear a reply came through, causing the mobile to vibrate loudly against the wood of her desk. Hollie jumped, knocking the phone to the ground in her surprise. Swearing, she scooped it up and read the message.

'_**Thank you. Think you can cover me if I miss dinner? xxx'**_

'_**What? You said you'd be a couple of hours! x'**_

'_**I'm sorry, sweetie. I've kind of got a bit caught up. I'll be home as soon as I can. xxx'**_

Hollie frowned and closed the conversation, slamming her mobile on the desk and resting her elbows on either side of her laptop. She rested her head in her hands, scowling as she went over the message in her mind. Continuing with Mrs McFall's essay was almost impossible with her mind on other things, but Hollie persisted, needing to at least try and convince herself that everything was normal.

'_**I'll be home in about 40 minutes. xxx'**_

An hour had passed since she'd started trying to write her essay and Hollie had managed a grand total of 42 words. Half of those she'd deleted because they made absolutely no sense at all.

'_**Are you ignoring me? xxx'**_

Picking up the mobile to type a reply, the teenager suddenly didn't know what to write, so she put it down again. Closing the lid of her laptop, Hollie made her way into the bathroom and took a shower. When she returned to her bedroom, rubbing her hair with a towel absent-mindedly, her mobile vibrated again.

'_**Hol? I'm on my way home. See you in 10. xxx'**_

Sighing, Hollie shook her head and dropped the towel onto the end of her bed, snatching up her mobile.

'_**Sorry… I was writing my essay and then had a shower. See you soon. x'**_

'_**Are you mad at me? xxx'**_

Chewing her thumbnail, the teenager considered the question. She wasn't sure whether she was angry with Nikki or not. Part of her was, because she was being forced to lie to Tom. He had done so much for her and he didn't deserve that. On the other hand, Nikki was her Mum and although it had taken her a while, Hollie knew that she would do whatever it took to keep her.

'_**No. I just don't like lying to Tom, that's all. Sorry. x'**_

There was no response, but less than five minutes later Hollie heard the front door opening and the murmur of voices downstairs. Then she heard footsteps getting closer and there was a soft knock on her bedroom door. The teenager swung round on her chair, watching as Nikki entered, a wary smile on her face.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"I'm sorry I asked you to lie." Nikki sighed, sitting on the end of the bed and sweeping the damp towel out of her way. "That wasn't fair. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't." Her daughter agreed with a shrug. "But… I will. I'll lie for you whenever you ask me to, because you're my Mum and I love you. I just… I don't want anyone to get hurt. I know they will, but…"

"I know." The older woman sighed, putting her head in her hands. "I need to figure all of this out. I don't know…"

"Can I ask you something?" Hollie asked suddenly, twisting nervously on her desk chair and staring at her hands. Nikki nodded silently. "You've known Lorraine a while, right? I mean… her Aunt lived next door to Nan and Granddad. You must have met her on the… rare occasion… when you came to see us."

"Yeah… I met Lorraine a few years ago." Nikki agreed, wondering whether the question was leading to another.

"Did you… was there… did anything happen before…?"

The woman bit her lip. "There may have been one night where we went out for a drink and one thing led to another." She admitted. "I swear we arranged to meet up to talk about you. I wanted to make sure you were OK and Lorraine had spoken to her Auntie Pam about how things were going…"

"I believe you." Hollie said with a slight smirk. "So… did you still like her when you came to Greenock?"

"I… I never really thought about it. Nothing happened until the day you came back from London, Hol, I promise you. And even that was just... we almost kissed."

The teenager nodded. "It's OK… I believe you."

"What do you want me to do?" Nikki asked suddenly. "Tell me and I'll do it."

Hollie shook her head, reaching out and linking her hand with her mother's. "I can't decide for you, Mum. It wouldn't be fair to either of us. I mean, if I asked you to be with Tom and, say a year down the line, you broke up and you'd missed your chance to be really happy with Lorraine… I'd always feel guilty and worry that you blamed me."

"I'd never blame you, Hol."

"You might not mean to, but I don't want to take the risk. You're gonna have to work this one out for yourself. But I promise I'll be here whatever."

"When did you get so wise, eh?" The woman asked, running a hand through her daughter's hair and pulling her closer.

Hollie's arms wound around Nikki's waist and she buried her head into the brunette's neck. "I don't know… scary, isn't it?"

Laughing the woman pressed a kiss to her hair. "No, it's fantastic."

"What actually is the deal with you and Lorraine, anyway? I mean… is there any chance it'll turn into something serious, or is it just…?" Hollie wanted to finish the sentence with the word 'physical' but she felt a bit weird asking her mother that.

"I don't know."

"What would Lorraine think about having me around?"

"I don't know." Nikki admitted again, with a sigh. "I mean… she likes you a lot and she was really worried when you found out about us in case you hated her, but I honestly don't know how she'd take to being your step-mum if it came to that."

"I expect I'd get some pretty decent presents…" Hollie mused.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

Laughing, the teenager nudged her with her shoulder. "Well she's loaded, isn't she?"

A couple of moments passed as both of them thought about what might happen in the future. There were lots of big decisions to make and neither of them was sure where they'd be in a week, let alone a year. Hollie didn't know what she wanted to happen, other than that she just wanted Nikki to be happy.

"Come on, let's go down and have dinner." The woman urged finally, standing up and pulling her daughter by the hand. "I think we've got some ice cream in the freezer and we still haven't watched that movie that came last week. What was it?"

"Hansel and Gretel." Hollie reminded her with a small sigh. "Josh chose it. It's my turn next… I think a nice Disney film will annoy him, don't you?"

Nikki laughed and nodded in agreement as they went downstairs, both fixing their faces into expressions that wouldn't raise the suspicions of Tom or his son.

* * *

_**A/N: You're all split on the Nikki/Tom vs Nikki/Lorraine debate... and so am I! I love Nikki/Tom, but at the moment everything is Lorikki! I still haven't quite worked out which way this is going to go! I've got two storylines in my head, so I guess it's going to be a surprise to all of us! ;)**_

_**Thank you all, as always, you fabulous people!**_

_**x**_


	118. Chapter 118

The next morning, Hollie arrived at school just in time to meet Dynasty and Imogen at the gates. They paused to wait for her as she jogged towards them. While Hollie and the blonde occasionally snapped at each other, Barry being the main source of tension between them, they still got on well most of the time and neither wanted to completely spoil their friendship by making the argument important.

A loud beep and the revving of the engine sent all three girls rushing to the side as a dark car sped through the gates and up the slope, nearly running them over. They stared as it screeched to a halt and the driver's door opened. When a young man climbed out and Dynasty ran into his arms with a squeal, Imogen and Hollie exchanged a look.

"Who's that joker?" Hollie asked, arching an eyebrow and looking completely unimpressed.

Imogen shook her head, mirroring her expression, before walking towards the car. "_Who's he?_"

Glancing in the direction the girl had aimed her question, Hollie's heart clenched slightly as she realised her friend was talking to Barry. Torn between wanting to stay away from him and her curiosity over who the man was, she wandered towards the car, her arms folded firmly over her chest.

"_Steve-o, Dynasty's boyfriend._" Barry informed them, watching the pair for a moment before his eyes landed on Hollie who was staring intently away from him.

"_Boyfriend? She never said?_"

"_Well he's been away._"

"_Uni?_" Imogen asked innocently.

Hollie snorted, seriously doubting that that was the case. "As if."

"_Her Majesty's pleasure._" Barry agreed, getting out of the car and shutting the door.

Rolling her eyes, Hollie linked her arm through Imogen's and pulled her away. She didn't want to spend any more time in the boy's company and it didn't look as though his sister was intending to drag herself away from her boyfriend any time soon.

"What do you think he did?" Imogen asked as they walked through the main doors. "To get sent to prison, I mean."

"Probably something like thieving or that." Hollie replied with a shrug. "I doubt it was anything more serious. He didn't look like he had the brains to plan a bank robbery or anything."

"D'you think we should tell someone?"

Shrugging, the girl spotted her step-father chatting to a group of younger students and pulled Imogen in his direction. "Hey, Mr Clarkson, Dynasty's out there in some guy's car. Apparently he's her boyfriend or something but he looks a bit dodgy to me."

"Thanks, girls." Tom nodded and smiled, before heading out in the direction they'd just walked.

Imogen shot her a look, clearly questioning whether she should have done that, but Hollie just shrugged. At the end of the day it was Dynasty's choice, but she'd made enough mistakes in her life to spot when someone was on the verge of making one. There was no time to think about it much more, though, because the bell rang and they made their way through the corridors.

Dynasty caught up with them as they reached the hall. She smiled at them, as though she didn't have a care in the world, causing both her friends to arch their eyebrows. She excitedly told them that Steve-o had got them a flat in Liverpool and showed them the ring he'd given her. Hollie grasped her hand and raised an eyebrow at the huge, pink stone attached to the gold band.

"_You're not seriously thinking of leaving?_" Imogen asked.

"_I dunno…_"

"_You've never mentioned Steve-o before._" The Scottish girl pointed out.

Shrugging, Dynasty smiled. "_I didn't think he'd ever come back for me._"

"_Out of sight, out of mind? Romantic._"

"_It wasn't like that._" The blonde told her defensively, her smile disappearing at once. "_It's the real deal._"

Hollie snorted. "Really? You sure he's not just lying to you to get what he wants?"

"What would you know about it, anyway?"

Rolling her eyes at the familiar hostility, the brunette didn't wait around for the jibes about Kevin and Barry that usually followed any sign of irritation from the girl. Instead she said goodbye and headed in the opposite direction to the other two, needing to get her Geography books out of her locker before heading to assembly.

Slamming her locker door with more ferocity than was necessary, Hollie shoved her text book into her bag and scowled. Seeing Barry Barry first thing in the morning did nothing for her mood and now she was irritable.

Her walk to the hall took her down the corridor where the Deputy's office was and, to her surprise, she saw Tom looking through the small window in the door while shrugging his jacket on. He didn't look remotely impressed by whatever he was looking at and the teenager furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what had happened.

"Mr Clarkson?"

"Oh… Hollie."

She frowned even more. "What's up?"

"Nothing." He assured her, rearranging his face into a smile. "Just school stuff."

"Like what?"

"I've just been kicked out of the office so that your Mum and Lorraine can go through some stuff that I'll apparently find out about at the staff meeting." He informed her, slightly bitterly.

Hollie bit her lip. "Is that not normal?"

"Not really… I don't see what could be so top secret that I can't sit at my desk while they're discussing it."

"Oh…" The girl didn't really know what to say to that.

"Listen, Hol… your Mum's not getting cold feet about the wedding, is she?" Tom asked with a sigh. "She doesn't seem her usual self and I can't think what I've done…"

"I'm sure you haven't done anything." She told him quickly. "She's probably just stressed out. Lorraine's putting lots of pressure on her about these subject numbers, right? And then there's all the trial and that… don't worry, Tom, everything's fine."

He smiled and squeezed her arm gently before wandering away down the corridor. Hollie felt guilty telling him that things were normal, but she couldn't do anything else. She briefly considered going into the office and telling the two women to get their acts together, but she couldn't. Instead she sighed and continued towards the hall for assembly.

She slid onto a bench beside Kevin, relaxing immediately as he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Ignoring the fact that they were surrounded by other students and teachers, Hollie leaned closer and pressed a kiss to his lips. They only broke apart when Mr Byrne called for quiet.

Turning to face the front, the girl saw her mother and step-father sitting side-by-side at the front of the hall. Nikki looked perfectly relaxed, her arms folded as she gazed around the room watching out for pupils who weren't paying attention to what Mr Bryne was saying about year 11 option choices. Beside her, Tom was sitting stiffly in his seat, an annoyed frown on his face.

Hollie sighed, slumping down on the bench slightly and resting her head on Kevin's shoulder. He looked at her questioningly, but she just shot him a weak smile and shook her head, indicating that she didn't want to talk about what was on her mind. To his credit, Kevin didn't push her. He simply nodded and tightened his grip on her waist.

When Mr Bryne mentioned the chess competition, the girl turned and smiled at her boyfriend proudly. She would never have thought that she would feel so much pride at having a boyfriend who entered such things, but she was. He grinned down at her, before shooting her a wink.

"_Or, you could come and check out the new IT lab._" Lorraine suggested suddenly, standing up and moving to the front of the room. "_Now I believe IT is essential and at the heart of every job. I mean History, English, Theatre Studies… they're fine, right? But are they going to get you a good job? Shakespeare's all very well, but the only job he'll get you comes with a peaked hat and the words, 'would you like fries with that?'_"

While she was talking, Hollie's eyes were on Nikki and Tom. The man looked irritated beyond measure at the way the blonde was talking. Nikki glanced at him, shifting uncomfortably on her seat as her eyes seemed to drift between her two lovers. Hollie really wished her mother hadn't put herself in this situation; it was not going to end well.

"_Or perhaps 'ambition should be made of sterner stuff'?_" Mr Byrne quoted. "_Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene II. I'm sure that Miss Donegan will agree that Shakespeare has a thing or two to teach us. The Year 11 AS Level options in the assembly hall after school, thank you._"

"_Good luck…_" Lorraine started as Tom got up and walked out of the hall. Nikki's mouth fell open as she watched him go. Her eyes met her daughter's across the room for a moment, before she hurried after him. "_Make sure you make the right choice._"

Hollie closed her eyes, thinking that Lorraine's words could apply to more than just subject choices.

* * *

_**A/N: For now (until I finally decide which way this is going to go in the end) I've decided to give you Nikki/Tom AND Lorikki (greedy Nikki!) because I still can't work out which I love more. I hope this is OK with you lot - I know how passionate you are about the ships and the split is so even that I really don't want to disappoint you either way!**_

_**Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing! You guys are FAB.**_

_**x**_


	119. Chapter 119

Lessons dragged. Hollie daydreamed her way through the morning and lunchtime finally arrived. The teenager almost longed for the days when her injuries from the kidnap had prevented her having to do PE. It would have meant she could leave school as soon as the lunch bell rang, but that wasn't an option anymore; especially now that she was trying to be a better person.

Going to dump her books in her locker, she leant against them and listened to Connor and Imogen discussing their plans beside her. Hollie just grunted when they asked her opinion on what film they should go and see.

"_Hi everyone!_" Dynasty's voice broke through the quiet of the room. Hollie turned so that she could see the blonde properly. "_I just wanted to let you know today is my last day._" When none of her friends responded, she pouted. "_Aren't you gonna say nothing?_"

"_Like what?_" Imogen asked tiredly. "_Well done you're fulfilling your potential as a gangster's moll._"

"_Gangster's moll?_" She smirked and switched the gaudy ring she'd shown them earlier onto her ring finger. "_Or fiancée?_"

"_Oh, god, it's getting worse and worse._"

"_That's a bit rich coming from you, Imogen. I mean, at least I've got a businessman as a partner and not some sad, pathetic loser of a school boy who still lives with his mother._" The blonde spat vindictively. Then she turned to Hollie who hadn't said anything. "What about you? Got any bitchy remarks to make?"

"What's the point? It's not as though you'd take any notice anyway, would you?" The brunette reasoned with a shrug. She was far too emotionally tired for all of this. "Do what you want, Dynasty."

Shouldering her bag, she turned and walked away. Hollie could hear the conversation carrying on behind her, but she didn't care. No doubt Imogen or Scout or Zoe would fill her in on what she'd missed before long. Walking through the corridors without much idea of where she was actually heading, the teenager felt her mobile vibrating in her pocket and pulled it out quickly, glancing at the screen before answering.

"Auntie Jo? What's up?"

"Why does anything have to be up for me to phone my favourite teenager?" The familiar joking voice relieved some of the tension Hollie was feeling and she smiled, dropping onto a bench and leaning back with a sigh. "No… I just wanted to make sure you were OK about the date."

"Date?"

"Yeah…" The was a pause and, when Jo spoke again, she sounded confused. "The date for Ashton's trial?"

"There's a date? When is it?"

"You… I thought Sun Hill were contacting Nikki this morning? You're still under eighteen, so they were going to notify her first."

"She hasn't said anything." Hollie told her. "Then again she's had other stuff on her mind and I haven't really seen her."

"Is everything OK?" Jo sounded concerned and the teenager wanted nothing more than to tell her what was going on. But she couldn't.

"Yeah, just… school stuff, you know?" She said instead. "So, the trial?"

"Two weeks; Thursday June 20th."

"And… that's when I have to…" Hollie chewed the inside of her cheek, sitting forward and resting her head on her hand and her elbow on her knee.

"No, probably not. That's the start date for the trial. I'm not sure exactly when they're going to want you to give evidence, but I should think it'll be the week after or even the week after that." Jo assured her gently. "We'll be there to support you, OK? Nikki's asking for time off and Sam and I will have to be there too. Sam's giving evidence against him as well."

The teenager nodded slowly, digesting her Aunt's words. "Who else is giving evidence?"

"Zoe isn't."

"No, I know. She couldn't." Hollie sighed. "I don't blame her… she's terrified of him."

"Well, aside from you we've got a couple more of his prostitutes." Jo paused, realising that she'd used the word 'more'. "Hol…"

"It's fine." The teenager shrugged. "It's true. Who else?"

"Well, Sam, obviously. Then PC Valentine will have to give evidence about the arrest after he attacked that tom on the night he threatened you. She's one of the girls giving evidence, by the way."

"D'you think it'll be enough to get him sent down?" Hollie asked, not daring to believe that it would.

The reply was almost instant. "Yes. They recovered that ledger you told them about at Ashton's flat. That in itself contains enough evidence to get him sent down for a long time. Everything else is just a formality really, at this point."

"Are you sure? I don't think I could…"

"I promise you, sweetheart, everything will be fine. We won't let anything happen to you."

"But…"

"I promise." Jo repeated.

"I believe you."

There was a small sigh from the other end of the line. "Good. Is your Mum around anywhere? I wanted a quick word with her, but her mobile's off and I don't want to phone the school again. Sonya Donegan always keeps me chatting for ages before she puts me through."

Hollie chuckled. "Yeah, I can imagine. Umm… I'll go and see if I can track her down."

Getting up off the bench, the teenager made her way back into the school. She asked about Sam and Abi and Harry and listened as Jo talked eagerly about her family. Hollie forgot that she wasn't supposed to have her phone on her. Nikki and Tom had decided that she should keep it on her, just in case, but that meant hiding it while she was at school. Most people thought she'd taken to giving her mobile to her Mum as soon as she got to school. Now she was wandering through the busy corridors at lunchtime chatting away without thinking twice.

Rounding the corner into the corridor that held her destination, she walked straight until the headmaster himself and her heart sank. His eyebrows shot up as he took in what she had clamped to her ear. Wordlessly, Mr Byrne held out his hand for the mobile.

"Sir… this is really important." She told him desperately. "It's my Auntie Jo about… the thing…"

"You know the rules, Hollie." He reminded her, his hand still outstretched. "Hand it over and get to the Cooler."

"She really needs to speak to my Mum."

"I won't tell you again."

With a sigh, Hollie bit her lip. "Sorry, Auntie Jo, I'm gonna have to go. You'll have to phone Sonya."

"That's alright, love. Sorry if I got you into trouble."

"Don't worry about it. I just shouldn't have got caught!"

"Miss Boston?" Mr Byrne sighed impatiently.

Nodding at him, Hollie ended the call and switched her mobile off, holding it out to the headmaster. He slipped it inside his jacket before sending her to the Cooler. As the girl made her way along the corridor, she saw him knock on her mother's office door and go inside.

x-x

"Where were you?" Connor asked, his voice accusing as Hollie walked through the double doors and down the steps out of the school later that afternoon. "Kev won the competition, if you were wondering."

"I was in the Cooler." She sighed. "I did point out that watching chess is a punishment in itself and asked if I could go and do that instead, but they said no."

Imogen raised an eyebrow. "Why were you in the Cooler?"

"Byrne caught me on my mobile."

"Unlucky."

"Yeah…" She nodded. "Where is Kev? I should go and see him."

"He's still up in the classroom. Dynasty changed her mind about leaving and she challenged him to a match." Imogen told her with a smile. "Apparently she ended things with lover boy when she realised he was still a lying thief."

"Maybe I shouldn't go and interrupt then." Hollie shrugged. "I need to go and speak to my Mum anyway… she's dealing with the subject option things."

"Yawn."

She laughed and turned to head back inside. "You're telling me. See you tomorrow."

Connor and Imogen headed away as Hollie made her way back into the building. She sighed as she entered the assembly hall and saw the stalls being packed away, wondering where her Mum had got to. She could take a guess, but didn't really want to.

Then she realised that if Tom was around it was unlikely that she would disturb anything, so she wandered thoughtfully through the almost deserted school until she found herself standing outside the office. Pushing the door, she poked her head inside and sighed softly.

Tom, luckily, was nowhere to be seen. It was lucky, too, that it had been her that walked into the office because if it had been anyone else all hell would probably have broken loose. Nikki was perching on her desk with Lorraine standing between her legs, the blonde's hands tangled in dark hair while they kissed as though their lives depended on it.

Slightly stunned, Hollie simply stood in the doorway as Nikki's hands travelling slowly down Lorraine's body until they came to a halt on her ass, pulling her closer. That was the cue for the teenager to remember who she was and what she was seeing and she cleared her throat, averting her eyes and blushing.

"I… sorry…" She muttered as the women sprang apart, hastily smoothing down their clothes and hair. "I just needed a word, Mum."

"Yeah, sure, sweetheart." Nikki agreed at once. "Of course."

"I'll… err… see you tomorrow, Nikki." Lorraine said quickly, smiling at her. As she passed the teenager, she glanced at her warily. "Hollie."

"Yeah, see you, Miss Donegan." The girl smiled weakly. For a second the blonde looked thrown by the response, but then she returned the smile and left the office. "You need to be more careful. If I'd been someone else…"

"Hol… I didn't mean to…"

The teenager flapped a hand at her. "I don't care. Did you speak to Auntie Jo?" She asked, changing the subject. "Or anyone from Sun Hill?"

Nikki frowned and shook her head. "No? What's wrong?"

"I know the date of the trial… it starts on the 20th."

* * *

_**A/N: I think I've figured out how this is going to go (to the point where I've written part of the last chapter - although it won't be for a while yet), but I'm not telling you what I decided! ;)**_

_**I want to warn you that I might not be able to update until Monday at the earliest... my best friend is coming to stay and I haven't seen her in months, so I might not have time to get online!**_

_**Anyway, thank you all as always!**_

_**x**_


	120. Chapter 120

"Tom?" Nikki called out as she and her daughter walked into the house a short while later. "Babe?"

"He's gone to see Mr Budgen." Josh informed them, emerging from the kitchen and leaning against the doorframe with a can of coke in his hand. "He said something about stopping off at the School House to see Maggie first."

"Why?"

The boy shrugged. "Dunno… I'm starving. What's for dinner?"

Nikki sighed. "I'll ring your Dad and get him to pick something up on his way home."

As she hunted in her bag for her mobile, Hollie thought that perhaps there was more to her wanting to phone Tom than just requesting he come home via the take away. As she'd suspected, Nikki's first question was to find out why he was at the School House. Her face contorted slightly as she listened to whatever her fiancé was saying. Then she bit her lip.

"Are you sure?"

That question, and the tone in which she'd asked it, immediately caught both teenagers' attention and they stared at her questioningly. Only able to hear half the conversation meant there was a long pause.

"OK… but… the kids are here and they're… really? OK. Don't be long, right? Well, I suppose if they want you to…" Nikki sighed, rubbing her hand over her face worriedly. "No, I guess not. It would have been nice if you'd discussed this with me first, though, babe. Yeah, alright."

"What?" Hollie mouthed, but her mother just shook her head.

"Oh, on your way home can you pick up something for dinner? Your son is starving, apparently." She glanced quickly at Josh and smirked, evidently reacting to something Tom said. "Yeah, probably! OK. Love you too."

She ended the call and turned around, finding herself being stared at by two curious teenage faces. Nikki deliberately said nothing, walking into the kitchen and flicking the switch on the kettle. She held a mug up in her daughter's direction, silently enquiring as to whether Hollie wanted a drink, before putting tea bags and sugar in two mugs.

"Mum!" The girl demanded, irritated by the silence. "What did Tom say? What should he have discussed with you first?"

"Nikki?" Josh asked softly, evidently thinking it was something bad.

She sighed and turned, leaning back against the counters and folding her arms across her chest. "He wants to give Grantly a kidney."

"What… now?"

"No, stupid." Josh rolled his eyes. "He'd have to have tests and stuff to see whether it would work and that." He shrugged. "Didn't he even mention it to you before?"

Nikki shook her head, frowning slightly. "No… I've been a bit… distracted."

The kettle finished boiling at that moment, giving her an excuse to turn around and busy herself making tea. The teenagers exchanged a look, Hollie worrying about the implications of Tom giving Mr Budgen a kidney and Josh wondering what was causing his step-mother to act so strangely.

"I don't know how long your Dad's going to be, so I can make you a snack if you want?" Nikki offered as she handed Hollie her mug. The girl shook her head in answer, sipping at her tea.

"Nah, you're alright." Josh said with a shrug. "I'm gonna go and do some revision… any chance you can come and give me a hand? On the last past paper I did I got a D… can you give me some pointers?"

Hollie pouted slightly. She had hoped that she and Nikki could continue their conversation, but her mother seemed only too happy to help the boy with his revision. They left the kitchen together, discussing the particular question that Josh had been struggling with, leaving Hollie alone.

Knowing that she should get on with revision herself, considering she had two exams the next morning, but unable to concentrate on anything for long enough, the girl pulled out her mobile and stared at it for a moment. Scrolling through her contacts list, she selected her Aunt's number and held the phone to her ear. She pushed the door closed, before pulling herself up to sit on the counter.

"Hol, you alright?"

"Yeah, I spoke to Mum… apparently she didn't know."

"They hadn't called her?" Jo asked. Liv could hear her frown in her voice. "I'll give Smithy a call tomorrow and see what's going on."

"OK, I–" She stopped abruptly as the sound of shouting reached her ears from the other end of the line. "What's going on?"

"Oh… I'm on a stakeout outside a pub." The woman informed her casually. "Apparently there's a fight or something. There is a match on, I suppose…"

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were working."

"It's fine. Stakeouts are dead boring anyway; especially when you're partnered with Dave." Hollie grinned as she heard the offended exclamation from a man she assumed was Dave. "So, you were saying earlier that your Mum's had stuff on her mind?"

"Yeah… it's complicated."

Jo chuckled. "When is it not?"

"I dunno if I should say anything, Auntie Jo. She might not like it." Hollie admitted with a sigh.

"Is it anything serious?"

"No… not really." The teenager said, shaking her head even though she was alone in the room. "Just… well… complicated."

"Then I'm sure Nik will tell me when she's ready to talk about it." Jo replied decisively. "Are you OK? How's Kevin? Have your exams started yet?"

"I had my first one that day when I came back from London." Hollie reminded her. "But the next two are Maths tomorrow morning. Then I've got History on Tuesday afternoon, the other English on Friday morning and then Geography on the 20th, so hopefully I won't have to be in London then."

"You shouldn't, but I'll have a word with Smithy and tell him you've got an exam just in case. They might be able to shift the order of witnesses around to make it easier for you."

"What… what sort of things are they going to ask me?" Hollie asked hesitantly.

Jo sighed. "They're going to want to know what you did, when and who with." She said softly. "You don't have to give explicit details, love, and the defence will make sure the prosecution doesn't overstep the mark. I'm not going to lie and tell you that it won't be uncomfortable or embarrassing or difficult… but if you're giving evidence via video link you won't see him."

Fiddling with the bottom of her shirt, Hollie bit her lip. "Auntie Jo… I was watching this show and they said that the jury and everyone are less likely to take you seriously if you do it over video link. Is that true?"

"Well… it depends. Sometimes the jury react more favourably if they can see witnesses in person, like if they can see up close how the defendant affects them… but Hollie, no one is asking you to be in the same room as Ashton. No one would expect you to–"

"I will." The girl told her quickly. "If it will make a difference… if it will make it more likely he'll get sent down… I'll stand in court and face him."

"Sweetheart…"

"No, Auntie Jo, I can do it…"

From Jo's end of the call there was another sigh. "I know you can; you're a strong kid. But I don't want you to put yourself through that. You've been through enough this year." There was a pause. "Can I speak to your Mum?"

"She's… yeah… hang on." Hollie pushed herself off the counter and wandered out of the kitchen. Jogging up the stairs, she knocked on Josh's door and poked her head inside. "Mum, Auntie Jo wants to speak to you."

Nikki looked a little confused for a moment, but then she got up off Josh's bed and smiled at him. Taking the mobile from Hollie's hand, she pointed at her daughter. "You've got Maths tomorrow… go and revise. I'll call you when Tom gets home with dinner."

* * *

_**A/N: My mate's train is delayed, so I thought I'd give you one more update before I vanish for a few days!**_

_**To the Guest who asked for a clue how this is going to end up; there will be both ships, neither ship and then one ship. That's all you're getting. I think I've already said too much...**_

_**x**_


	121. Chapter 121

Nikki wouldn't say what she and Jo had talked about, but she had told her daughter that she didn't think it was a good idea for her to give her evidence in the court room. Hollie had started to argue, but the front door opened and her mother rushed downstairs to talk to Tom before they called the teenagers down for dinner.

The next morning both Hollie and Josh were panicking about their exams. Josh's English books and Hollie's Maths ones were fighting for dominance on the kitchen table while they crammed in some last minute revision. Nikki and Tom leant against the kitchen counters eating their breakfast and watching the teenagers with something akin to amusement.

"So… you're giving Mr Budgen a kidney?" Josh asked as they climbed into the back of the car and headed for school. They hadn't spoken about it the night before, everyone too focused on their own issues for much conversation to flow at all. "Will it make him better?"

"Hopefully."

"When will it be?" His son asked. "You'll be fine to go on holiday in the summer, right?"

Tom laughed, turning the car into the school and parking quickly. "Course I will, mate."

"Right, you two concentrate on your exams, alright?" Nikki urged them, twisting in her seat to look back at the teenagers and arching an eyebrow, almost as a warning. "Whatever else we've got going on can wait until after the exams, understand?"

They both nodded and climbed out of the car. Josh nudged Hollie with his shoulder playfully and the girl turned to jokily whine at their parents. Tom and Nikki were still in the car, kissing and apparently taking no notice of anything going on around them.

"That is so embarrassing…" Josh rolled his eyes, draping an arm around the girl and pulling her in the direction of the school. "I don't care what they do at home, but do they really have to do that here where people can actually see them?"

Hollie shrugged and said nothing. They separated as soon as they walked through the doors and headed off to join their own friends and prepare themselves for the exams. All too soon Sonya and Mr Byrne were calling them into the hall and they were settling themselves down to start.

x-x

Over of the next couple of days the four of them seemed to be more like co-inhabitants of their house, rather than a family. Josh and Hollie kept themselves to themselves, revising pretty much constantly for their exams, Tom spent a lot of time with Maggie and in and out of the hospital, while Nikki tried to continue juggling her time between Tom, Lorraine and school. She still hadn't come up with a solution to her problems and however much her daughter encouraged her to make a decision, the woman couldn't.

A week after her Maths exams, Hollie walked out of her English exam to find her mother hovering in the entrance hall waiting for her. From the expression on Nikki's face, she knew at once that there was something serious going on and thoughts started running wild in her mind. Grasping her wrist, the teenager pulled her off to the side and stared at her.

"Mum? What is it?"

"Jo phoned me. They want you in London to give evidence on the 25th."

Hollie felt a shiver run through her and she nodded slowly. "OK… that's… I'll have finished my exams by then. I've just got Geography left now…"

"Are you alright?" Nikki demanded, more harshly than she'd intended. When the teenager sent her a weak smile and nodded, she pulled her into her arms with a sigh and rested her cheek against her daughter's head. "I really think you should give your evidence over video link. I know you think–"

"I want to face him, Mum." Hollie told her. "I've thought about it… if I hide from him I'm always going to be scared. He's going to think that he can control me. If I look him in the eye and stand up to him then he'll realise that I'm not letting him get away with it anymore."

"I just want to protect you." Nikki sighed.

Her daughter smiled. "You need to concentrate on yourself. You have to make a decision."

Biting her lip, Nikki glanced around before taking Hollie by the hand and pulling her along the corridor. Frowning slightly, the girl allowed herself to be dragged into the Deputies' office and pulled herself up to sit on the desk, swinging her legs nervously and wondering what was coming. The woman looked as nervous as she felt, leaning against Tom's desk and watching her carefully.

"Well?"

"Hol… I'm pregnant."

There was a pause as the news sank in. Then the teenager grinned. "Really?"

"Yep."

"So…?"

"So what?"

Hollie tilted her head to one side. "What are you going to do? I mean, Tom… or Lorraine?"

"I'd say the decision's been made for me, wouldn't you?" Her mother said, looking down.

"No." The teenager shook her head. "No way. You can't base your decision on the fact that you're pregnant. You can't stay with Tom just because you're having his baby. That's not fair on anyone; you, him or the kid. What if you and my Dad had stayed together? You'd have probably been miserable and he'd have probably cheated on you numerous times and then what?"

"I hate that you're right." Nikki grouched.

"I'm always right."

The woman arched an eyebrow at her daughter and smirked. "Not always, babe."

"OK, not ALWAYS." Hollie agreed with a shrug. "But a lot of the time. You need to make a decision soon, though."

"I know." Nikki sighed. "I just… I love Tom. But Lorraine is…"

"I don't need to know, Mum. I just… I want to know what's happening."

Nikki smiled and moved to hug her once more. "When I know, you'll know."

x-x

"You wanna come round for dinner?" Hollie asked Kevin as they sat side by side on a bench at the park after school that afternoon.

He glanced at her for a moment and then shrugged. "Yeah, sounds good."

She nodded and stood, holding out a hand to him. Kevin grinned at her and took it, tugging so that she stumbled towards him. Wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled Hollie onto his lap and kissed her. She sighed, relaxing into his embrace and kissing him back.

Giggling, the girl pulled back, resting her head against her boyfriend's. "Come on, let's go. Josh is going out with Madi, Gus and Liberty, Tom's going to see Mr Budgen and Mum won't be home for a while. We'll have the house to ourselves for a couple of hours."

"What are we waiting around here for, then?" Kevin asked with a laugh.

They made their way hurriedly back to the house. No sooner had they got through the front door than their bags were dumped and their blazers hit the floor. Kevin pushed Hollie against the wall, kissing her hungrily as their hands almost desperately moved between them, undoing buttons and removing shirts. Hollie didn't even stop to consider that a trail of clothes leading from the hall, up the stairs and into her bedroom was a bad idea.

The realisation hit her a while later when the teenagers heard the front door open and a muffled exclamation from the hall. Hollie and Kevin froze and stared at each other for a moment. Then the girl felt giggles rising up in her chest and buried her head into her boyfriend's neck to try and stop the laughter escaping.

"Hollie Joanne Boston what the HELL is going on here?" Nikki's voice bellowed up the stairs.

Sliding out of bed, the girl slipped on her underwear and one of Kevin's hoodies that was draped over her desk chair, before walking out onto the landing and stopping at the top of the stairs. She put her hands on her hips, ready to shoot back a sarcastic remark – something along the lines of what did her mother **think** was going on – when she caught sight of a blonde woman and she faltered.

"What… what's Miss Donegan doing here?" She asked, frowning.

Nikki bit her lip at that, looking uncomfortable. She was well aware that there was someone else in the house – she hoped it was Kevin – and so she had to come up with some half plausible excuse. "Err… we had some stuff to go over. It was either here or at the pub and we thought we'd get more done here. I thought you were going out with your mates tonight."

Hollie wanted to say that she was sure they'd get more done here, although she doubted it would be work, but didn't. Instead she simply shrugged and fixed the woman with an almost challenging look. "I changed my mind. Kevin's staying for dinner… he might stay over tonight, too. OK?"

There was a pause. Then her mother nodded, sensing that there was no point disagreeing if she didn't want an argument. "We're getting pizza."

* * *

_**A/N: I'm back!**_

_**You guys are AWESOME. Seriously.**_

_**x**_


	122. Chapter 122

Finally Nikki came to a decision and, after running it past her daughter who told her that she would be there whatever happened, the woman determined to finish one of her relationships before Hollie had to give evidence against Gavin Ashton. She thought that going to London for the trial would allow space for things to calm down somewhat, before she had to return and face the music.

Taking a deep breath, Nikki opened the office door and poked her head inside. The smile Lorraine sent her was almost enough to break her resolve, but a hand on her stomach reminded her why she was doing this. She loved Tom and she had to at least give the five of them the chance to be a family.

"Lorraine… there's something we need to talk about." She almost sighed, slipping inside and closing the door with a sharp click that screamed finality.

"That sounds ominous." The blonde grinned at her. Seeing the tenseness in the taller woman's body and the way she was refusing to meet her eyes, Lorraine pushed her chair back and walked around her desk to stand in front of Nikki. She reached out for her hands, but the brunette wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "What's happened?"

"I'm pregnant." Nikki told her quickly, getting the words out before she changed her mind yet again. "We… we have to stop this… us. Whatever's going on between us… it has to end."

The blonde blinked a couple of times, trying to get her head around what she was hearing. Stumbling backwards slightly, she sat on the edge of her desk, running a hand through her hair and staring at the brunette. "Nik… you can't just… what we have…"

"I'm pregnant, Lorraine. I'm having Tom… my fiancé's… baby."

"I get that." She snapped, clenching and unclenching her fists. "But… I don't care."

Nikki gaped at her. "What?"

"I don't care." Lorraine repeated. "I don't want this to end, Nikki. I might not like kids… I might be rubbish with them… but I'll try. We can make a go of this… you, me, Hollie and the baby."

"No." The brunette shook her head, looking at her feet. "It's not a discussion. It's… it's over. I don't feel strongly enough about you and about us to choose you over him. I'm sorry, babe, I really am. But I have to… I'm choosing Tom. I have to think about my kids. I screwed up with Hollie and I can't do the same with this baby. It's Tom's child and… I have to make it work."

"What?"

Both women froze at the male voice that broke the silence. Nikki's eyes widened as she turned slowly to face the door, seeing Tom standing in the gap. He was staring at her as though he barely recognised her. The expression in his eyes correlated directly with the squeezing in her chest and she took a step towards him.

"Nikki… what's going on?"

She stared at him wide-eyed. "Tom, babe, listen I–"

Shaking his head, he turned and walked out of the office. Gasping slightly, she followed, forgetting about the blonde watching them in shock. Nikki almost ran to catch up with her fiancé, wondering how this had gone so wrong. She had known that it would be difficult, ending things with Lorraine, but she hadn't expected it to end like this. She hadn't considered that Tom would overhear.

"Tom!" Grasping his arm, she forced him to stop. "Please… what… how much did you…?"

"Enough!" He snapped back, wrenching his arm out of her grip. "How long has it been going on?"

Nikki bit her lip. "Not long… three weeks at the most. It's not–"

"If you're about to tell me that it's not serious or important then don't waste your breath." Tom warned her, narrowing his eyes. "We're engaged, Nikki. I thought we were happy. I never thought that you'd… Just the fact that you considered cheating, let alone did it, is enough, whether it meant anything to you or not."

"I–"

"No, Nikki…" He shook his head and then his gaze dropped to her stomach. "Are you really…?"

"Having a baby? Yeah, I am."

"And is it…?"

Unable to stop herself, Nikki rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's yours, Tom. If you hadn't noticed it's highly unlikely that Lorraine managed to get me pregnant."

"How do I know that it's just Lorraine you've cheated on me with?" He hissed out. Her mouth opened and closed several times, unable to think of a suitable response. "Like mother, like daughter…"

"Excuse me?" The woman's eyes narrowed. "You can call me any name under the sun," she advanced on him, her eyes flashing dangerously, "but you keep my daughter out of this!"

Tom shook his head. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean that… Hollie's…"

"I know that…" Nikki sighed and then glanced along the corridor. Seeing an empty classroom ahead, she opened the door and went inside, hoping that he would follow her. When, after a couple of moments, he did, she relaxed a little. At least he was apparently willing to talk. "I know that what I did was terrible and, honestly, I don't know why I did it. I just… I couldn't help myself."

"Isn't that what Hollie said about the whole Kevin and Barry debacle."

"I thought we were keeping her out of this." The woman snapped.

Tom clenched his jaw, running a hand over the back of his head agitatedly. "Fine. I just… how could you do this?"

"I told you, I..."

"You couldn't help yourself, right." He laughed mirthlessly, shaking his head and turning away. "I was so stupid to think that this… us… could work. I should have realised that it never would… all the fighting and disagreements and the fact that we're just too different should have been a big, flashing warning sign!"

"Tom, please–"

He shook his head, stepping away from her outstretched arm. "No, Nikki. I've been hurt before. This time I'm getting out before you do that anymore than you already have."

"But…"

"I'll support the baby; I'll be in its life as much as I can. But I can't… I'm sorry."

Nikki watched, speechless, as he turned and left the classroom with his head down. She felt her legs shaking and dropped onto the nearest table with her head in her hands. The woman wasn't sure how much time she spent in that position, but suddenly she felt arms wrapping tightly around her and hands smoothing through her hair.

With watering eyes, the brunette looked up to see who was trying to comfort her. She finally gave into her tears as she met her daughter's eyes and saw the sympathy and sorrow there. Nikki clutched Hollie to her, burying her head into the teenager's shoulder as though she was the only thing stopping her crumpling completely.

"Tom told me you were here." Hollie murmured once her mother's sobs had died down. She pushed the dark strands of Nikki's hair behind her ears and wiped under her eyes to remove the smeared eye makeup. Both of them felt the acute reversal of roles in their relationship. "What happened?"

"He… I… I was ending it with Lorraine and… Tom overheard and… he… we…"

"He left you?" The teenager's eyes widened. "What? Does he know…?"

"About the baby?" Nikki asked, receiving a nod from her daughter. "Yes… he wants to be involved but… he doesn't want me."

Wrapping her in her arms again, Hollie ran her hand through Nikki's hair over and over again. "I'm sorry, Mum. I'm so, so sorry."

Forcing down a sob, the woman shook her head. "I tried to make a choice… I tried to choose between them and I lost them both… I suppose this is what I deserve."

"No, Mum. No! You don't. You made a mistake. No one has the right to… to… to judge you for–"

Nikki laughed softly. "Tom does… of course he does."

The teenager moved away from her mother, folding her arms and fixing her with a hard stare. "OK, you screwed Tom over. Hell, you even screwed Lorraine over." She agreed with a shrug. "But who did you screw over more than anyone else? Me."

"Hol…"

"No, listen to me." Hollie ordered in a hard voice. "If there's anyone around here who has the right to be angry with you, to make you feel like you are right now, then it's me. But I don't want you to feel like this, because I love you, Mum. And…" her voice cracked a little and she looked away, "And… I need you right now… I know it's selfish and… but I really need you, Mummy."

"Did… did you just call me Mummy?" Nikki asked, unable to believe her ears.

Hollie blushed. "No."

With a soft chuckle, Nikki pulled the girl closer and hugged her. "I'm right here, baby. Always."

* * *

_**A/N: And then there were no ships...**_


	123. Chapter 123

Michael had given Nikki permission to take the next week off for the trial and so, as soon as the bell rang at the end of the day, the mother and daughter went home and packed. They were in the car and on their way to Jo and Sam's house in Manchester before Tom and Josh got home. Feeling like a coward, the woman had left a note on the kitchen table for her fiancé and ignoring the messages Lorraine had left on her phone – starting off almost pleading with Nikki to reconsider her decision and ending with a text that simply read '_**Fine. It's over, I get it.**_' – she headed out of Greenock deciding to spend the next week or so focusing on her daughter.

The drive from Scotland to Manchester was largely silent; the only sound for most of the journey coming from the radio or Hollie's phone beeping every couple of minutes when a text came through from Kevin or one of her friends. The sound began to irritate Nikki after a while and she snapped at the teenager to put it on silent, earning herself a reproving glare and causing her to sigh and smile apologetically.

It was a relief when they drew to a halt at their destination. The front door opened as they were collecting their bags from the boot and Jo grinned at them. Almost instinctively the visitors knew that whatever problems they'd left behind should stay unspoken for a while, at least for that evening. There would be enough time to discuss things later, but both wanted one night of normalcy with their family.

"Holliieeeeee!" A small, blonde figure in Batman pyjamas hurtled past Jo and leapt at the teenager, almost knocking her over.

She laughed, swinging Harry into her arms and hugging the four-year-old tightly. "Hey, kiddo! Did you miss me or something?"

"Yessss!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around her neck. "I wanted to stay at home, but Mummy made me go to nursery."

"My Mummy made me go to school too." The teenager told him, pulling a face. "But don't worry about it; we've got all weekend to hang out, right?"

"Right." Jo agreed, hooking the boy out of her arms and balancing on her hip so that Hollie could pick up her bags again. "You have all weekend so it's bedtime for you, mister."

Harry groaned. "But Nana…"

"No buts, sweetheart, it's bedtime."

She rolled her eyes at her cousin and the teenager over Harry's head, before leading the way through the hall. Jo indicated that they should dump their bags in the hall and go into the living room while she carried the boy up to bed.

Doing as they were told, Nikki and Hollie went into the living room and settled themselves on the sofa. Hollie made herself at home at once, picking up the remote and flicking through the channels until she found something that appealed to her. Nikki was distractedly checking her messages, sighing as she read the ones from Lorraine and a couple from Josh.

"You OK?" Hollie asked, looking sideways at her.

Immediately the woman pasted a smile on her face and nodded. She pushed her mobile into her jeans pocket and pretended to be interested in the episode of _Friends_ that Hollie was watching. In reality she'd seen it more times than she could count and was merely waiting for Jo to return.

After ten or so minutes, the sound of footsteps on the staircase alerted her to her cousin's return and she let out a small sigh of relief. The older woman entered the room and dropped heavily onto the seat beside Nikki, leaning her head against the sofa cushions. After a moment, she straightened up and twisted her head so that she was looking directly at her.

"Hungry?"

"Starving." Hollie replied, taking no notice of the fact that the question had been directed at her mother.

Jo chuckled. "You know where the take away menus are, you lazy cow."

"Rude…" The teenager muttered, pulling herself to her feet and ruffling her Aunt's hair as she passed.

While Hollie was occupied in the kitchen, Jo raised an eyebrow at her cousin, silently demanding information. Unable to bring herself to lie, Nikki told her everything. The detective was a good listener, not saying anything until she was sure that the other woman had finished. Then she pulled Nikki into a tight hug, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she had every time her cousin had been upset in the past.

"You and Hollie can stay here as long as you want." Jo told her gently.

Nikki wiped her eyes. "You haven't got the space. We couldn't…"

"Go and stay with Mum and Dad, then." Her cousin suggested. "They'd be happy to have you. Mum's always complaining that she never gets to have a proper conversation at home."

The younger woman laughed. "I'm sure Uncle Pete would argue with that."

Jo screwed up her face as she thought. Then she shook her head and smirked. "I doubt it… it just gives him more of an excuse to go to the pub or play golf."

"We can't impose on your parents, Jo. It wouldn't be fair."

"Don't be such an idiot!" Her cousin rolled her eyes. "You **know** that Mum and Dad think of you as a daughter."

"They were always more like parents to me than my own…" Nikki conceded with a sigh.

"And since Jamie died…" Jo pursed her lips slightly as she remembered her younger brother. Her cousin squeezed her hand, receiving a smile in return. "They'll take all the grandchildren they can get. They adore Hollie."

"Who doesn't?" The teenager joked, returning to the room and catching the end of the conversation. "Can we get Chinese?"

"Sure." Her Aunt agreed with a nod. "Can you wait like an hour? Sam and Abi should be back soon."

Hollie nodded, dropping onto the sofa in the seat she'd not long vacated. Then she turned to the two women curiously. "Are we staying here then? Or with Auntie Meg and Uncle Pete or something?"

"I don't know…"

"I mean… we'll have to go back to Greenock, right? There's still like a month of school…"

Nikki sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know what's going to happen Hollie. We'll have to go back when you've finished giving your evidence but… I don't know where we're going to live. I can speak to Maggie, but…"

"We'll figure it out." The teenager promised firmly. "As long as we're together, right?"

Jo snorted. "You sound like a bloody Disney film, love."

Hollie reached over her mother and smacked her with a cushion, laughing. "You mean I'm **not** in a Disney film? I was convinced I was a brunette Cinders!"

"Really? You might wanna see someone about that." The detective cautioned her with a broad grin.

"She has kissed a few frogs, though." Nikki pointed out, causing the teenager to splutter.

"Are you two ganging up on me?"

Nikki and Jo looked at each other for a second, before attacking the girl with cushions. "Yes."

x-x

Considering everything that had happened before their arrival in Manchester and everything that was going to happen as soon as they left the city, they had a relaxing and amusing weekend. Abi had taken Hollie to the Trafford Centre and when they'd returned home, Nikki and Sam had given almost identical eye rolls at the collection of bags they brought with them.

On Monday morning, bright and early, Abi and her son stood on the doorstep to wave the four women off. Hollie's stomach started churning as soon as the engine started. She turned up the volume on her iPod, effectively blocking out the sound of the conversation going on around her. Somewhere near Stoke-on-Trent she fell asleep, not waking until Nikki shook her awake gently when they arrived at their hotel.

After a quick lunch, they headed to the Court to meet up with Smithy and several other of Sam and Jo's ex-colleagues who were involved in the case. The detectives discussed as much as they, legally, could about what was going on, before Jo talked Hollie through what would happen the next day when she had to give her evidence.

Nikki paced the corridors nervously, chewing on her thumbnail and feeling physically sick at the thought of what her daughter had been through at the hands of the man who she was going to give evidence against the next day. Sam, guessing what was going through her mind, squeezed her hand gently and introduced her to several police officers in an attempt to distract her.

It didn't work.


	124. Chapter 124

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jo asked gently the next morning, taking Hollie's face in her hands. "It's not too late to get a video link set up."

The teenager shook her head, smiling weakly. "I can do this, Auntie Jo."

"I know…" The detective sighed. "I just don't want this to undo all the good you've done recently. I don't want you to go in there and break down. I don't want him to get to you."

"I've got you and Mum and Sam. I'll be OK." She hugged the woman tightly, before pulling away and glancing along the corridor. "Speaking of Sam, where is she?"

Jo moved to sit on the seats that lined the wall. "She's waiting to give her evidence."

"I'm not allowed to see her until I've given my evidence then, right?" Hollie checked, sighing. When her Aunt nodded she leant her head back against the wall and stared at the high ceiling. "Any tips?"

"Look at the lawyers when they're asking you questions, try and make eye contact with the jury if you can and if there's something you're not comfortable answering look at the prosecution lawyer so he can see you're not happy and decide whether to raise an objection with the judge. But if the judge says you have to answer then you'll have to. If you don't you'll be in contempt of court. Oh and call him Your Honour." She smiled and squeezed the teenager's hand. "Remember, if you look at the gallery there'll be familiar faces there to support you, OK?"

"How long have I got until I have to go in?"

Shrugging, Jo glanced sideways at the door to the courtroom. "It depends how long they keep Sam in there and whether they break for lunch before they want to talk to you."

In the end they did break for lunch before Hollie was called to the witness box. Jo stayed with her, trying to encourage the teenager to eat and drink something so that she didn't faint while she was being questioned, but Hollie couldn't bring herself to. She couldn't settle either; sitting for a moment before pacing the room and then sitting again. The pattern continued until her Aunt thought she was going to snap at her to sit still.

Finally a tall, balding man opened the door and called her name. Jo gave her a reassuring smile and followed her from the room. She squeezed the teenager's arm and watched her being led into the court room, before turning and entering through the door that led to the public gallery. As Jo took her seat beside Nikki, linking their fingers in a silent show of support, Hollie appeared in the witness box, looking much paler than usual.

"I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Hollie read off the piece of card a clerk was holding up for her, her hand resting lightly on a Bible.

"Can you please confirm your name for the court?" The prosecution lawyer asked, sending her a small, reassuring smile.

"Hollie Joanne Boston."

"Miss Boston, can you please tell the court about the circumstances that led to you meeting the defendant, Gavin Ashton?" The man said matter-of-factly.

Hollie nodded and took a breath, looking anywhere but where Gavin was standing. "He was my best friend's boyfriend and he was friends with my boyfriend at the time. I ended up spending a lot of time on the Jasmine Allen Estate and that meant I ended up spending a lot of time with Gavin."

"When, exactly, did your relationship change?"

"I…" Hollie blinked, unsure exactly what he meant. "I don't understand? What relationship?"

"When did you start working for him?" The lawyer clarified.

"Oh…" She took a deep breath. She'd known that this question would come, but she didn't have to like it. "When I was fifteen... May 2011"

The man nodded slowly. "And what caused you to decide to become a prostitute?"

She flinched. Then Hollie glanced at the jury. "My Grandfather was diagnosed with cancer in November 2010. When he got worse, we had to get a nurse in to look after him because my Grandmother couldn't cope on her own and… We couldn't afford it after a while, but the only other option was to put Granddad in a hospice, but Nan wouldn't… I had to get money to pay for his care."

"Could you not have received financial help?"

"My Nan was too proud. I couldn't let Granddad go without the care he needed because she refused to admit we needed help." The girl replied almost angrily. Then she took a steadying breath. "So… Gavin was already pimping my best friend and I… he told me that I could earn a lot of money if I..."

"If you worked as a prostitute for him?" The lawyer asked, obviously needing it to be crystal clear. Hollie nodded. She was still resolutely avoiding looking towards the dock where she knew Gavin was.

"How long did you work for Gavin Ashton, Miss Boston?"

"Until… July 2012, when I was sixteen." Hollie answered after thinking for a moment. "My grandfather died a month later and then my Nan was put into a residential home and I moved to Scotland to attend my school."

"And…" The lawyer glanced quickly at the jury, apparently gaging their reaction to the teenager so far before asking his question. "When did you get pregnant?"

Hollie's mouth dropped open. While she had half expected the question, she hadn't expected it to be put so bluntly. As she opened her mouth to answer, a sound caught her attention and she glanced towards the public gallery. Her eyes fell on the two worried faces of her Aunts and the shocked expression on her mother's face, but then she saw someone else edging their way towards them.

She was only vaguely aware of the lawyer trying to get her attention and encouraging her to answer the question, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Tom, Josh and Kevin making their way to sit on the end of the row beside Sam. Hollie clutched at the front of the witness box. She didn't understand why they had come to London, let alone Court; she couldn't do this with them here.

"Miss Boston, if you do not answer the question–" The judge was saying when Hollie was suddenly aware of her surroundings once more.

"I… I… I'm sorry… Your Honour… I…" She shook her head, almost as though she was in a daze. "What was the question again?"

"When did you fall pregnant, Miss Boston?"

"August 2011."

"And who was it that first suggested you should have an abortion?"

Hollie clenched her jaw. "Gavin."

"Your Honour," the defence lawyer got to his feet at her answer, "I hardly see that this is relevant."

"Do you have a point, Mr Gisholm?" The judge asked.

"I am merely trying to show that Mr Ashton is the type of man who would manipulate a vulnerable young woman to do what he wanted without a second thought." The prosecution replied smoothly.

"I will allow it," the judge nodded, "but make sure you stick to the point."

"Yes, Your Honour, thank you." The man inclined his head, before turning to Hollie once more. "Can you talk us through that decision?"

She swallowed, feeling sick. "I… I realised I was pregnant… I was scared because… because my Nan had always said she'd kill me if I got pregnant as a teenager like my Mum did. I told Gavin and he persuaded me that I wasn't ready and I should consider having an abortion. I wasn't sure, but… Gavin said that it was for the best; that I could have children when I was older, but if I had the baby I couldn't keep working. We… I… it would have been another mouth to feed… another mouth we couldn't afford."

"But you would have kept the baby anyway?"

Hollie gripped the wooden rail in front of her, feeling tears burning in her eyes. Her voice was barely audible when she spoke. "Yes."

"And Gavin Ashton persuaded you to have an abortion."

"Yes. He made all the arrangements and… everything."

"Were you scared of Gavin Ashton?"

Hesitating, she looked to the public gallery. Jo and Sam nodded encouragingly, but Nikki had her head in her hands. Hollie couldn't even bring herself to look at Tom, Josh and Kevin. "Yes."


	125. Chapter 125

As the prosecution lawyer announced that he had no further questions for his witness, the defence council rose to his feet, fixing Hollie with a shrewd look that made her stomach churn. He stared at her for a moment with his head on one side and the girl was reminded of the predatory way a lion looked at a gazelle before ripping it apart.

"Miss Boston, how would you describe your relationship with your ex-boyfriend, Mr Mitchell Payne?" The man began.

Hollie was thrown, not understanding what that had to do with Gavin being on trial. She glanced quickly at Mr Gisholm, but he merely nodded sharply. She bit her lip, her eyes darting nervously around the room, trying not to land on anyone in particular.

"It was… hard." She answered at last. "Mitch was… he was possessive and jealous and…"

"How long were you in a relationship with him?"

Hollie bit her lip, thinking. "Just over a year… fifteen months or something?"

"And was Mr Payne violent, Miss Boston?"

"He…" The girl was on the verge of denying the accusation as she always had done. But then she realised that she didn't need to anymore. "Yes."

"Did Mr Payne know that you were working for Mr Ashton?"

Hollie shook her head. "No… I don't think so. Not at first. When he found out he… he nearly put me in hospital."

The lawyer nodded slowly, before tilting his head and looking at her carefully. "Was Gavin Ashton ever violent towards you?"

"Yes."

He smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. "Can you elaborate, Miss Boston?"

"He… I had one client who… he threatened me." Hollie took a deep breath, closing her eyes and wishing that her family and Kevin weren't up in the gallery. It would make this so much easier. "I told Gavin what he'd done and said that I didn't want to see him anymore. Gavin had promised at the beginning that he wouldn't make me do anything I wasn't comfortable with; that he'd look after me. But… when I said I wanted Gavin to stop sending me with that client he hit me. He told me that he owned me and I had to do what he said or he'd make sure I was sorry."

"What do you assume he meant by that?"

"Well… that he'd do something serious to me unless I carried on doing what he wanted."

The lawyer glanced to the jury. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

Hollie frowned in confusion. "Yes, I…"

"Is it not that Mr Ashton took your concerns seriously and stopped booking you in with that particular client? Is that not the truth?"

"I…"

"Did you meet that client after the incident in question, Miss Boston?"

"No, but…"

Smiling, the man gave a theatrical shrug. "So if, as you suggested, Mr Ashton was violent towards you and threatened you to such an extent that you feared he would do something serious to you after you requested not to see that client again, why did he do as you asked?"

"I don't…"

"Is it not more likely that you, scared after a less than pleasant encounter with a man who was paying to sleep with you, took Mr Ashton's anger towards the man who had threatened you as anger towards yourself and chose to believe that **he** was threatening you?"

"No–"

"When in reality, Mr Ashton was merely seeking to protect you?"

"He wasn't!"

"And isn't it true that he rescued you from running drugs for your ex-boyfriend?"

"What?"

"Did you, or did you not, on the insistence of Mitchell Payne, collect payment for drugs from the 222 Club?"

"I– no… I…" Hollie looked imploringly at the prosecution lawyer and the judge, willing them to make the man stop his line of questioning. Apparently, though, he had finished anyway. He nodded slowly, shuffling his papers.

"If the jury would look at the documents made available to them they will find a copy of Miss Boston's medical file." The lawyer glanced down at his own copy of the notes. Hollie felt her face flushing and she grasped the edge of the witness box tightly, terrified she was about to faint. She couldn't even look over to where her family where, feeling shame rising in her chest. "If, as you claim, Miss Boston, you underwent a termination of a pregnancy in September 2011, why is there no record of it in your medical files?"

"Gavin arranged it. He took me to a clinic near the Larkmead Estate and I had it done under the name Caroline Morgan. He was able to borrow his cousin's ID and book me in under her name."

"Convenient."

Hollie's mouth dropped open and angry tears sprang to her eyes. "Why would I lie about that? Why would I pretend to have killed my baby if it wasn't true?"

"You tell us, Miss Boston." The lawyer said with a smirk. "Perhaps for the same reason that between September 16th 2010 and February 28th 2011 you were arrested or questioned by the police fourteen times, giving the name Joanne Nicola Dixon? Perhaps it's because you're a pathological liar, Miss Boston?"

"I'm not! Why are you doing this?"

"And how many times were you taken to Sun Hill police station for offenses related to violence or causing disturbances between September 2010 and October 2011?"

Mr Gisholm stood up abruptly, appealing to the judge. "Your Honour! I hardly see what this has to do with anything!"

"Mr Leonard, is there a point to your question?"

"I am merely attempting to do the same as my learned colleague did with the defendant, Your Honour; establish the character of the person before the jury." The man informed the judge smoothly.

"Please answer the question, Miss Boston, although I hope you will remain focused on the case at hand, Mr Leonard. This young lady is not the one on trial." The judge remained the defence council firmly.

"Well, Miss Boston?"

"I… I'm not sure?" Hollie gulped, biting her lip. "Maybe… five or six times? I don't know." She admitted, willing herself not to cry.

The man smirked. "Fourteen times; including receiving a reprimand for being drunk and disorderly in December 2010 when you were just fifteen years old." When Hollie had no response, he shrugged his shoulder and glanced at the jury. "Does this sound to you remotely like the young woman the defence painted a picture of; innocent and led astray by the defendant?"

"But it wasn't–"

"Is it not, also, true that you were high on drugs and fell off a wall, breaking your arm when you were fifteen?" Mr Leonard continued.

Hollie finally saw red. "Maybe I did, but have you got any idea what it's like to feel like the only thing you're good for is having sex with strangers for money? Do you have any idea what it's like to see the expression on your Grandmother's face when she discovers how you've earned the money to pay for your Grandfather's care? Do you know how it feels when you realise that she doesn't care; that she never expected you to be any more than a cheap whore? Do you know what it's like to feel so alone, so scared, that getting rid of your baby – the only person you might possibly have in your life that loves you unconditionally – seems like the only option and the best thing to do?" She shook her head, barely aware of the tears that were falling freely now. "Because that's what my life was; day in, day out. That's why I drank and smoked and did whatever I could to get out of my head. I didn't want to remember… I didn't want to be faced with the truth. He," she looked at Gavin for the first time, her eyes narrowed and her face screwed up in fury, "did that to me. He turned me into a cheap, criminal whore."

No one seemed to know how to respond to that. With a quiet murmur that he had nothing more to say, Mr Leonard sat down. When the judge glanced at Mr Gisholm, evidently asking if he had anything else to add, the prosecution lawyer shook his head. Announcing that court was adjured for the day, the judge left the room, everyone else filing out afterwards.


	126. Chapter 126

"Where's… Mum?" Hollie asked quietly as she saw Jo waiting for her outside the court room. Nikki was nowhere to be seen and the teenager was suddenly terrified that she had revealed too many secrets that afternoon for the woman to cope with.

"She's gone to get some air with Sam." Jo replied as casually as she could, shrugging and winding her arm around Hollie tightly. "I said I'd wait for you."

"Is she…?" The girl wasn't sure what she was asking. Was Nikki angry? Was she upset? Was she disappointed? "Is she OK?"

Jo sighed. "She's a bit overwhelmed."

"I should have told her about the baby before."

"I did tell you that." The woman reminded her, tightening her grip around Hollie's shoulders. "She doesn't know I know, by the way. I thought it was best that she thought you'd kept it a secret from everyone."

"Probably…"

"She will understand, you know." Jo assured her gently.

Hollie wasn't convinced. "Will she?" Shaking her head, she sighed. Then she turned to her Aunt with a curious gaze. "Why… Tom and Josh and Kevin… why were they here?"

"They wanted to support you." Jo replied at once. "They wanted you to know you weren't on your own."

"But… it made it so much harder…" The girl sighed. "I sounded like some kind of…"

"We know you, Hollie." The woman said firmly, stopping and turning Hollie to face her. Concern shone in her eyes and she stroked the girl's cheek tenderly. "We know you. Whatever they said in there, whatever they tried to paint you as; we know you."

"But they got me right, didn't they?"

Jo frowned, rubbing her upper arms as though trying to reassure her through the action. "No, no they didn't. They–"

"No, Jo, they did. It was all true." She shook her head, turning away and wrapping her arms around herself tightly. "I shouldn't have agreed to do this. I shouldn't have… He's going to kill me. Him or Mitchell or one of their mates. They won't forget about this. And… neither will anyone else."

"Maybe not, but they won't hold it against you."

"How can you be so sure? I've hurt you all so many times… Mum's hurt Tom. Maybe…"

"If you're about to say something stupid like maybe you don't deserve to be happy, then don't bother." Jo ordered with a deep sigh. "This is real life, Hollie. This isn't some movie. People screw up, they do things they shouldn't and they hurt the people they care about the most. You need to grow up and realise that. The more you try and push us away, the tighter we're going to cling on to you because we're family. Understand?"

Nodding weakly, the teenager met her Aunt's eyes and chewed her lip. "I'm sorry…"

"Stop apologising!"

"I… sorry…"

Jo smirked, shaking her head. Then she sighed again. "If anyone should be sorry it's us. We abandoned you to your grandparents. If we hadn't done that…"

"What could you have done, Auntie Jo?" Hollie asked with a small, mirthless laugh. "Even Mum didn't have much choice."

"We had a meeting…"

"A meeting?" The teenager raised an eyebrow and tried not to giggle. Jo looked so serious that she knew it wasn't a laughing matter.

The detective nodded and moved to sit on the seats along the wall. Hesitating for a moment, Hollie moved to sit beside her. "Me, Sam, Nikki, my parents… we met up to discuss what to do about your situation. You would have been… eleven, I think. Your Mum was still in the army, but she wanted to take you away from her parents. Sam and I hadn't been together long, but she realised how important it was and she agreed that you should come and live with me. She wanted to help me take care of you."

Hollie's eyes narrowed. No one had ever told her any of this before. "Why didn't you?"

"Because Anne and Henry were your legal guardians. We consulted solicitors and did everything we could, but they refused to let you go. It would have meant dragging you through courts and forcing you to talk to psychologists and make massive decisions. We didn't want to put you through that."

"But if you knew what it was like for me… why didn't you try?"

"Hollie, we didn't know." Jo assured her, sighing and putting her head in her hands. "We thought you were happy. Every time we saw you there was no indication that you weren't being looked after properly. If I could go back I'd drag you and your grandparents through every court in the land to get you living with me."

"If you had…"

The older woman closed her eyes. "If I had none of this would have happened. I know that, babe. I think about that all the time. You have no idea how…"

Hollie squeezed her hand. "Don't… you're here now. That's enough for me. Besides, now Mum and Tom have split up, you might be seeing much more of me than you thought."

"Your Mum didn't seem very keen and…"

"What?"

Jo winced. "Don't tell anyone, but we're moving."

"Moving? Where?"

"Brighton."

Arching an eyebrow, the girl smirked. "Really? Brighton? Slightly cliché, isn't it? But after living in Manchester and London **you're** happy moving to the seaside?"

"Sam and Abi like the idea of Harry growing up near the sea and I agree that it'll be much safer." She glanced sideways and grinned. "Besides, it's less than two hours from London. If I get bored of the beach I can always pop back to the city. I've already got a job down there, so…"

"Wow… you're actually moving?" Hollie asked, the realisation stunning her slightly. This wasn't just a plan or something that might happen in the future. It was actually going to happen soon. "When?"

"Over the summer, we're finalising things over the house and Harry's enrolled in a primary school down there for September. Abi's graduating from Manchester Uni next month and she's looking for jobs in Brighton. It's all… it's all coming together, Hols. I just wish you and your Mum…"

Hollie smiled weakly. "I know."

Brighton was so far away from Greenock and Hollie wasn't sure how often she'd get to see her Aunts when they moved. She assumed that she and Nikki would stay in Scotland, considering that she had another year of school and her Mum had her job and was going to have Tom's baby. There were more reasons to stay in Greenock than there were to leave, although there were more than enough of those.

With a sigh, Hollie stood up and pulled her jacket around her. "We should go… I need to face… I need to make sure Mum's OK."

"You're a good kid, Hol." Jo told her, cupping her face in her hands and smiling. "Whatever they said in there."

Not replying, the teenager slipped her hand into her Aunts, needing the support. They headed through the marble foyer towards the main entrance in search of Nikki and Sam. As they stepped through the doors, Hollie was blinded by flashing lights and disorientated by a mass of shouting voices.

Instantly stepping into detective mode, Jo shielded her from the press as best she could, pulling out her mobile and hitting her girlfriend's number in the speed dial. After a quick conversation, punctuated by her ordering journalists and photographers out of the way, Jo bundled the teenager into her car and started the engine.

"They've gone to the pub." Jo informed her, swinging the car out of the car park. "All of them."

"Is…"

Jo sighed, but smiled. "Your Mum's fine. Sam said she's in shock, but she's angrier with herself for allowing it to happen than anything else." Seeing the look on the teenager's face she shook her head. "That's the problem with this family; we blame ourselves for everything and we can't let it go. After the trial, after everything's sorted, we have to forget about it and move on."

Hollie nodded. "OK."


	127. Chapter 127

By the time they arrived at the pub, Tom had left. Apparently the man's desire to make sure Hollie was alright didn't extend to being in such close proximity to her mother. Josh and Kevin were still there and, as Hollie allowed herself to be held in her boyfriend's arms, they explained that they were staying with Chalky for a few days so that they could support her. Neither mentioned anything that they'd heard in the courtroom, for which the girl was incredibly grateful.

Her mother hesitated for a moment before pulling Hollie out of Kevin's arms and into her own. It was enough to send both of them into floods of tears as the woman comforted her daughter. Nikki was incredibly hurt that Hollie hadn't confided in her, but she supposed she could understand. Sam had talked to her gently, pretending that she hadn't known about the baby either, suggesting that Hollie probably didn't like thinking about it; that she was ashamed of what she'd done.

"It'll be alright, sweetheart." Nikki promised, pulling back and looking deep into her daughter's eyes. "I'll make sure everything's alright."

"I know you will." Hollie agreed, pushing herself back into the woman's embrace and burying her head into the crook of Nikki's neck.

x-x

The next day, Nikki was acting secretively. She left the room they were sharing at the hotel after a quick glance at her ringing mobile, leaving Hollie staring after her in surprise. When she returned to the room, she was accompanied by Jo and Sam, who informed the teenager that she was going to spend the day with them because Nikki had some things to do.

Hollie had briefly wondered whether her mother's preoccupation and strange behaviour had something to do with Tom, but when she and her Aunts met up with Kevin and Josh later that afternoon, they informed her that Tom and Chalky had spent the day at some museum or other. From there, her mind had wandered as she tried to work out what could possibly be causing the woman to act so oddly. Even when Nikki returned, apart from assuring her daughter that it was nothing to worry about, she refused to talk about it. Realising that, however much she badgered her, Nikki wasn't going to explain anything, Hollie gave up.

Neither of them suggested going to visit Anne and on Thursday the four of them returned to Manchester. Hollie had asked whether they could stay in London until the end of the trial, but all three women had told her that that wasn't going to happen. They wanted to get her as far away from the capital as possible before she saw the papers.

Unfortunately, when they stopped at the services half way up the motorway, Hollie managed to get hands on a copy of the paper that had her face splashed across the front page. She gazed at it in horror, crumpling the sheets in her hands as her eyes remained glued to the headline.

'_**Former Underage Prostitute Testifies Against Pimp'**_

Feeling panic rising in her chest, the teenager gasped for breath. Her head started swimming and she thought she might faint. Just before her knees gave way, she felt strong arms wrapping round her and turned into her mother's embrace.

"Hollie, listen to me, OK." Nikki ordered softly. "The people who know you won't take any notice of this crap. The people that **do** take notice of this aren't worth your time or effort."

"But it's… it's all there. My picture and my past and… everything."

"So what? Tomorrow this will be old news. No one will give it a second thought. You don't need to know what it says."

The girl really wanted to believe her. She wanted to believe that no one would pay the report much attention but she knew that wouldn't be the case. People at school were going to have a field day with the information. The students and staff wouldn't forget it easily or quickly. Nikki would be damaged by this just as much as her.

"Mum… how are you going to… what if people… you're deputy…"

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart." Nikki told her firmly. "I'm more than capable of looking after myself, alright?"

Unconvinced, Hollie nodded. As they returned to the car, she didn't realise that the paper was still clutched tightly in her hand. Luckily no one else did either and no security guards came running after them as they crossed the car park.

In the back of the car, Hollie plugged herself back into her iPod, blocking out the sound of conversation around her and glanced over the article. She clenched her jaw as she read it, hating how the truth sounded when written in a paper.

_The trial of Gavin Ashton continued today at the Old Bailey as the defendant, a violent criminal with links to many organised crime units around the country, was the focus of questioning aimed at a 17-year-old witness. _

_The young woman is a former prostitute, run by Ashton between May 2011 and July 2012 and, during that time, was forced into having an abortion under a false identity so that she could continue working. _

_When asked why she became a prostitute, the witness answered: "__My Grandfather was diagnosed with cancer… I had to get money to pay for his care."_

_The witness, who has a string of previous offences including cautions for drunk and disorderly behaviour, possession of cannabis and shoplifting and previously worked as a drug runner, claimed that Ashton "__told [her] that he owned [her] and [she] had to do what he said or he'd make sure [she] was sorry" and "turned [her] into a cheap, criminal whore". _

_When prosecution lawyer Geoffrey Gisholm QC raised an objection with Judge Edward Wallace about a line of questioning that raised questions about the integrity of the witness, Alistair Leonard QC, for the defence, claimed that perhaps the witness was: "a pathological liar" after using a false name in her prior dealings with the police._

_There is still some question as to whether Ashton did, in fact, pressure the young woman, who was fifteen at the time, into terminating her pregnancy considering there is no mention of the procedure in her medical records._

_The case is due to continue at the Old Bailey for several weeks._

Hollie clenched her fists and threw the paper into the foot well, stamping on it for good measure. The action didn't go unnoticed by her mother who was sitting beside her and Nikki sighed.

"I told you not to read it." She told her daughter.

"It's shit." Hollie snapped, wrenching her earphones out so that she could hear properly. "It's… it's not even… I was never cautioned. I got a couple of reprimands and warnings, but I was **never** cautioned. They're making out I'm a liar!"

"Hollie–"

"Everyone will know! There's a massive bloody photo of me coming out of court!"

"At least they caught my best side." Jo joked, attempting to lighten her mood.

"Shut up."

Nikki glared at her. "Oi! Manners. Just because you're upset it does **not** give you the right to be rude to Jo, especially after everything her and Sam have done for you."

Hollie knew she was right. "I'm sorry Auntie Jo. I didn't mean it… I'm just… sorry."

* * *

_**A/N: You guys are awesome. There's nothing more to say on that matter!**_

_**I love how you're still battling over Nikki/Tom and Nikki/Lorraine! I've written the last chapter now - just not the bits in between - and I HOPE that everyone will be happy with it. THEY ALL DIE. I'm **_**totally**_** kidding! But hopefully it'll work the way I intend it to. Anyway, that's enough of me giving spoilers away! :P**_

_**x**_


	128. Chapter 128

Going back to school on the Monday after the trial was terrifying. Hollie kept her head down as she and Nikki climbed out of the car and headed across the concrete towards the main entrance. The teenager could hear the whispers and muttered gossip as they walked, but the woman kept a tight hold around her daughter's shoulders as she propelled her inside the building.

"You can do this, Hol." Nikki murmured, heading straight for her office with the girl in tow. "You stood up to Ashton, so you can damn well deal with a little gossip. You know what it's like… next week all this will have been forgotten and they'll have moved onto something new."

"I know." Hollie agreed weakly, unsure whether she actually believed that it was true or whether she was just trying to make her mother feel better about the whole situation.

The older Boston nodded and opened the door to the office she shared with her ex-fiancé. She was relieved that there was no sign of Tom and his desk was mercifully empty, meaning he hadn't arrived yet. Nikki wasn't sure what she was going to say to him when he arrived – apart from thanking him for turning up to support her daughter. On the other hand, Tom had made it perfectly clear that he was there for Hollie and wanted nothing to do with her mother.

Sighing, the woman slumped down into her desk chair and turned on her computer to check her emails. Hollie dropped onto the sofa that ran along the wall under the window and watched her mother carefully. She could see the strain that recent events were taking on her mother's usually calm persona and wished that there was something she could do to make things better, rather than worse.

"Nikki, I need a word about what I asked you on Fri–" Lorraine trailed off as she spotted the seventeen-year-old sitting on the other side of the room. The blonde cleared her throat nervously, smoothing down her skirt. "I saw the papers. What you did, Hollie… it was really brave." Whatever the teenager had been expecting to come out of the blonde's mouth, it wasn't that. "Auntie Pam lived next door… I can't believe no one…" She stopped abruptly, shaking her head. Then she smiled weakly. "I'd like to hold an assembly to make sure everyone understands just how courageous what you did last week was."

"I don't know…"

"Thank you." Nikki answered for her daughter. Seeing the unconvinced expression on the teenager's face she sighed. "If they understand the truth – rather than what the papers say – they're less likely to give you a hard time about it, Hols. It's not as if Lorraine can say anything bad that they don't already think they know."

"Ok." Hollie nodded slowly. Then she stood up, guessing that what Lorraine had come to discuss with her mother was probably confidential. "I'll see you later."

Making her way through the corridors, the girl kept her head down. Most people just whispered to their friends or stared as she passed. A couple shouted things at her, but Hollie didn't take any notice; reminding herself that they didn't know anything. She bypassed the Common Room and headed for the toilets. When she reached them, she shut herself in a cubical and waited for the bell to ring.

Registration was awkward. Her friends didn't seem to know what to say to her. Zoe tried to talk to her about the trial and about Gavin, but the brunette just shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it. The others seemed to be at a loss as to what to say. Even Kevin seemed uncomfortable around her, although he did grab hold of her hand and intertwine their fingers as the class made their way through the corridors to the assembly hall.

Hollie sank down in her chair as low as she could get, pointedly ignoring all the stares that were aimed at her. Kevin kept a tight hold of her hand as they watched Tom and Nikki take their places on the stage and Lorraine walked to the podium and stare out at the sea of faces in the room.

"As many of you know, Mr Byrne has decided to resign as headteacher. While I'm sad to see him go, Waterloo Road has to move on. We can use this opportunity to take our school in a new direction." Lorraine announced, her voice clear and strong across the hall. "For this reason I have asked Ms Boston to take over the position and she has accepted."

Hollie's mouth dropped open as her mother stood up and bowed her head awkwardly in response to the round of applause instigated by the blonde.

Kevin nudged her gently. "I didn't see that coming."

"Me either…" She agreed, realising what Lorraine had wanted to talk to her mother about earlier.

"She didn't tell you?" He asked surprised, raising his eyebrows when his girlfriend shook her head slowly.

"The other thing I wanted to talk to you all about this morning will not come as a surprise." The woman continued once the clapping had stopped. If possible, Hollie sank even lower in her seat. "I don't expect that there is a single person in this room who hasn't read a newspaper with Hollie's face splashed across it," Lorraine looked around the room slowly, "and I expect that you all think you know exactly what went on? Wrong. Nobody knows what went on in Hollie's life back then, except Hollie herself." Moving away from the podium, Lorraine strode along the stage making eye contact with various students. "My Aunt lived next door to Hollie and her grandparents. She popped in most days to see if they were OK. My Aunt didn't notice anything. She didn't help Hollie get out of the trap she'd been sucked into. Every single one of you have known that girl for the best part of a year and did any of you have any idea about her past? No." She paused, almost glaring around the room. "But what I do know is that it took a hell of a lot of courage to stand in that Court Room, face the man who exploited her so badly and then walk in here today knowing that her past had been splashed around for everyone to read about. If I hear that anyone is judging her for one of the bravest things she could have done, then the punishment will be severe."

When Lorraine finished speaking, she stared around the room fiercely. No one spoke, no one even seemed to breathe. The blonde nodded once and then dismissed the teenagers, waiting for Nikki to join her before leaving the hall.

Slowly the noise level rose and the students filed out. Hollie kept her head down and darted out before the main body of teenagers managed to reach the doors. She moved straight towards the lockers, opening her own and grabbing at her books. As she was stuffing them into her bag, desperately trying to do it as quickly as she could, a commotion behind her made her turn and stare at the crowd of teachers marching towards the entrance.

"_Go on Miss, you show them!_" Rhiannon cheered as Mrs Mulgrew and the rest of the striking teachers strode past them, heading for the exit. "_Let them know who's boss!_"

"_That's enough, Rhiannon._" The English teacher told her firmly, not breaking her stride.

The red-head pouted. "_I'm just supporting you, Miss._"

"_Well I'd rather you handed in your homework._"

Jack cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted after the retreating teachers. "_How long you striking for, Sir?_"

"_As long as it takes._" Tom called back, not turning to look at the boy as he walked out.

The teenager clapped his hands and cheered, moving to stand on the sofas in the middle of the area. "_No teachers! We rule the school!_"

Hollie sighed and shook her head. Slamming her locker shut, she shouldered her bag and stalked out of the room towards the Common Room. She wished she hadn't come into school for her double free period. She could have stayed in bed and come in at break time instead, but Nikki had thought she should get the initial panic of walking into the building and facing people over and done with.

Despite Lorraine's lecture, Hollie was sure that nothing would change. Sure enough, after about half an hour, the whispering and pointed looks in the Common Room was too much for the teenager to handle. She grabbed her things and made her way through the school towards the Deputies' office. She was about to knock on the door, when she realised that her mother wouldn't be in there. With a sigh, she turned and headed towards the Headteacher's office instead.

* * *

_**A/N: Argh! My laptop is dead! That means that I can only update the chapters which I already uploaded, which is basically this one.**_

_**I am borrowing my Mam's laptop - thank god my cousin has to drive past where my parents live to pick up her son from uni! - but I don't know if I should really write fanfiction on it, seeing as she'll spot it as soon as she opens Word and be like, "what is this?" That would be awkward... unless I disguise it as something else... *puts MI5 hat on and attempts to be sly...***_

_**Anyway, this is just a warning that there may not be updates for a while - and I know, they haven't been very regular anyway! I'm sorry! Thank you for being so lovely, though! :)**_

_**x**_

_**P.S. Oh... and there aren't many chapters left now. I'm not entirely sure how many there will be, but I'm envisaging about five more at the most. Probably less! **_


	129. Chapter 129

The day passed slowly. Nikki was rushing about all morning, attempting to ensure that all the classes of the teachers who had walked out on strike were covered. When Michael convinced them to go back at lunchtime, the woman felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The expression on Tom's face as he looked at her, though, sent a pain through her chest.

The afternoon was just as stressful to the woman and, by the time the bell rang for the end of the day she was exhausted. A groan escaped her lips as there was a soft knock on the door and she wondered what she'd have to deal with now. When the door opened, however, the woman smiled and stood up, crossing the office to pull her daughter into a tight hug.

"I came to find you earlier." Hollie murmured, nuzzling her face into her mother's shoulder.

"It's been a hell of a day." Nikki sighed, clinging on even tighter.

"I wish I'd never gone to that stupid trial, Mum." The teenager admitted quietly. "Everyone's looking at me… all my friends are avoiding me… the teachers seem scared to look at me… I hate it. I don't think I can do it."

Nikki squeezed her eyes closed and sighed. "I should have put you first… you're more important than a job."

"Don't…"

"No, it's true. I'm sorry. You needed me today and I was too busy running around sorting everyone else out."

"Mum, honestly, it's fine." Hollie told her, her face still buried in her neck. "I know you were busy."

They stayed silent and still for a couple of moments until a familiar tapping of high heels grew louder as Lorraine walked towards them through the open office door.

"_Hey?_" She said, furrowing her eyebrows slightly at the expressions on the Bostons' faces. "_You alright?_"

"_Not a great start to my job, eh?_" Nikki sighed.

Lorraine straightened slightly. "I _think you managed OK; school's still open, strike's off…_"

"_It was Michael that stopped the strike._"

The blonde nodded slowly. Then a reassuring smile crept over her face. "_Look… it'll be better tomorrow._"

"_No…_" Nikki replied quietly, shaking her head. "_No, it won't, Lorraine. I'm not ready for this._" She glanced at her daughter, moving her arm around the girl and squeezing her tightly. "We're not ready for this."

"_You can't just quit after one day._"

"Sometimes _one day is all you need._" The brunette told her, letting out her breath in a sharp exhalation. "_I'm out of my depth._ I have to concentrate on what's important right now. I need to focus on my daughter and my baby. My family has to be my first priority." Lorraine looked away, sighing in disappointment. Nikki stood slowly and picked up her bag and jacket, keeping her arm wrapped around Hollie. "_I'm sorry. I'm sorry it didn't work out._"

"_Yeah… me too._" Lorraine said softly, watching the woman and her daughter leaving the office and walking away.

"_Oh look out…_" Tom muttered snidely as Nikki and Hollie walked into the pub. "_It's the boss._"

The woman kept her chin up, pulling out two chairs for herself and her daughter and setting them between Maggie and Christine at the table. She had wanted to attend Audrey and Ndale's wedding reception, but didn't want to leave her daughter on her own in the Premier Inn they were staying in since moving out of Tom's house. Hollie found it strange being back there, especially with her mother, remembering the night she'd stayed there before moving into the School House. Everything was so different now.

"_Not any more._" Nikki told her ex-fiancé calmly. "_I quit._"

"What _is it with head teachers and quitting these days?_" Christine asked, looking around at the others. Then she smiled at Hollie. "Are you alright?"

The teenager nodded, not raising her eyes from her hands clasped in her lap. She didn't really want to be there, feeling as though she was intruding. "Fine, thank you."

"You know… what Lorraine said this morning… she was right." The blonde continued gently, laying a hand on the teenager's arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. "What you did was brave."

"Thanks…"

"She was brave." Tom agreed with a nod. "She refused to back down, even when the defence lawyer started trying to make out that she was a liar."

"We're proud of you, pet." Maggie told her, causing Hollie's head to snap up. As she looked at her with wide eyes, the house mistress smiled gently, winking at the teenager.

Across the table, Mrs McFall nodded and smiled weakly. "You stood up for what was right. No one can fault you for that, whatever may have happened in your past."

The teenager wasn't sure what to say. Instead she just nodded and returned her gaze to her hands as Nikki reached out and held one in her own.

"_I better go._" Maggie said after a moment, standing up. "_Visiting time._"

"_D'you want me to come with you?_" Tom asked, looking as though he'd relish the excuse to leave the pub.

"_No, you're alright, Tom, thanks._" The woman replied, shooting a surreptitious glance towards the tall brunette beside her. "_I like to sit with him on my own… tell him about me day._"

"Yeah_, well you can tell him he's got some competition now that you're teaching._"

They smiled as she left. There wasn't time for a conversation to start up, as Mr Byrne appeared behind them. "_Folks… where's Ndale?_"

"_It's a long story._" His girlfriend told him meaningfully. He frowned lightly at her and she gave a sharp shake of her head.

Audrey smiled. "_Get a round in and we'll tell you._"

He nodded slowly and wandered away towards the bar. Nikki raised an eyebrow questioningly and leant forwards, wondering what had happened. Beside her, her daughter shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll go and…"

"Don't be silly," Mrs McFall told her firmly, "you stay right there."

Still feeling uncomfortable about what she considered was eavesdropping on a teachers' conversation, but not wanting to go against what sounded like a definite order from her History teacher, Hollie stayed in her seat. She glanced at Nikki for reassurance, earning a small shrug and a smile in response.

When Mr Byrne returned with a tray of drinks – including a coke for Hollie – the woman began explaining what had happened at her wedding that afternoon. The three of them who didn't already know what had gone on widened their eyes in surprise and pity, before Audrey waved off their comments and smiled. Hollie knew that she wasn't half as alright about Ndale's betrayal as she was making out, but understood more than most that sometimes you needed to fool yourself as much as everyone else.

"_I tell you what, I'll do you a deal._" Tom told the older woman, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she rested her head against his. "_If you haven't been snapped up in five years, I'll marry you._"

Hollie looked at her mother quickly and saw that she had stiffened in her seat, but was pointedly concentrating on the peanuts cupped in her palm. Biting her lip, she chanced a look towards Tom and Audrey, catching the woman's eyes.

"_I don't think would work, Tom._" She replied, pulling away from him and straightening up.

"_Why not?_"

"_I'm too much woman for you._"

Tom chuckled at her answer. Almost against his will, his eyes flicked round to where Nikki was sitting, concentrating hard on her snack and refusing to risk meeting his eyes. Then he glanced at her daughter and smiled weakly. Hollie returned it, before sighing and looking at her hands in her lap once more.

"_I know I was put in an impossible position,_" Nikki announced suddenly, "_so why do I feel like I failed?_"

There was a pause. Hollie expected the woman beside her to answer, while Tom pretended he hadn't even heard her mother's question. To her surprise, however, it was him who spoke.

"_Is the school still standing?_" He asked. "_Did anyone try and burn it down?_"

"_No…_"

Footsteps behind them caused all four sitting at the table to glance up. Sonya, looking as though she'd been caught in a rainstorm considering the way her makeup was smeared down her cheeks and her hair was dishevelled, looked at Audrey apologetically.

"_If you want me to go, I'll go._" She sniffed.

There was a long pause as everyone looked between the two women warily. Then Audrey spoke. "_Tom… could you get Sonya a drink, please?_"

As he stood up, Nikki finished her lemonade and signalled to her daughter that they should leave. She reached over and squeezed her colleague's hand, before grabbing her jacket off the back of her chair and moving over to say goodbye to Michael and Christine at the bar. She wrapped an arm around her daughter as she told them she'd see them in the morning, before the pair walked out in silence.

* * *

_**A/N: So... in the last update when I said that there were about five chapters left, I lied. This is the penultimate chapter! There's just one left!**_

**_I have flu (I know, who gets flu in June?!) which is why you're getting an update when I should be at work! So broken laptop AND flu... This is not my week..._**

_**Also, Leah! You need to get an account on here or tumblr so I can actually reply to you properly!**_

_**x**_


	130. Chapter 130

"Mum?" Hollie frowned at Nikki as the woman sat, deep in thought once they returned to the Premier Inn. "Mum?"

"We're moving." The woman said finally.

Her daughter blinked. "I'm sorry… what?"

"We're moving away from Greenock. We need a fresh start; you, me and the baby."

"Mum… are you mental? What are you even talking about?" Hollie demanded, thoroughly bemused by the turn of events. "We can't just move! I've got another year of school, you're pregnant, you've got no job to go to and we'd have to find a new house. Not to mention the whole Tom and Lorraine situation and the fact that I don't want to leave Kevin and my mates... even if they don't want to talk to me at the moment."

"This isn't up for discussion. There's nothing left here for us, Hollie. You hated being at school today and I won't watch you suffering like that anymore. I tried to be the head teacher and I failed. I lasted one day… I can't stay there now."

Staring as her mother stood up and started to make her into the en-suite bathroom, Hollie darted forwards and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. Her eyebrows furrowed as she studied Nikki's face carefully. She could see the pain and uncertainty easily, but needed to know what was going on in her head.

"Mum… please? Talk to me…"

"Too much has happened since we got here… every shit thing that could have happened and more… I want a fresh start… I want us to be happy." Nikki almost whispered, reaching out for her daughter and cupping her face gently in her hands. "We can be happy."

"OK? Say we did leave… where would we go? What would you do?"

"South." Nikki informed her quickly, a small smile appearing on her face. "I accepted a job in a school in Shoreham after Jo told me they're moving to Brighton which is just down the road. I've been looking at houses..."

"You've… how long have you been planning this?" Her daughter demanded, frowning.

"A couple of weeks…" The woman admitted. "Since before we went to London for the trial; my application for the job went in a week before and that day I left you with Jo and Sam I went to the interview."

"So you agreed to take the head teacher job at Waterloo Road even though you were planning to leave in two weeks? Does Lorraine know you're going?"

Nikki shook her head. "Not yet. I thought… if I gave it a go and decided to take the job permanently we could stay. But I messed up. This new job, moving away from here… this is our chance to go somewhere new where no one knows what you went through; we can make a fresh start."

"Don't keep saying that!" Hollie ordered. "They have papers down South, you know! And Mum… that's not making a fresh start… that's running away. We can't just go! The baby… Tom's baby… you can't just…"

Shaking her head, the woman returned to the sofa and pulled Hollie down beside her. "I won't stop him seeing his child. And Josh is going to Chichester University next year if he gets the grades, isn't he? That's less than an hour away, so you'll be able to see him loads."

"Is… Is Tom coming with us?"

"Hol…" Nikki sighed. "I don't know. He doesn't want…"

"And Lorraine?"

"She's not talking to me. After I broke up with her and then quit as head and left her in the lurch…"

Squeezing her eyes closed, the teenager thought hard about what her mother was asking her to do. "Fine." She agreed, struggling to keep her tone even as tears threatened to spring to her eyes. "Fine, let's go."

Nikki hugged her tightly, pressing her face into the girl's hair and kissing her head. "Everything will be better, I promise you."

As Hollie sniffed and nodded, she sent her mother a weak smile. "So… these houses you've been looking at…"

Reaching down the back of the sofa, Nikki pulled out a wodge of papers and held them out. Taking one look at her, Hollie burst out laughing. The fact that she'd hidden her research like that was just funny. As the women blinked bemusedly, Hollie shook her head before explaining. Nikki joined in her laughter, the tension thankfully easing as they perused the details together.

The next two weeks, the last of the school year, were a blur. Hollie glanced around at her friends as she stood by the car in the Premier Inn car park. Nikki turned away, giving her some privacy to say her goodbyes, dialling Jo's number to inform her that they were leaving. The teenager felt tears welling in her eyes as she gazed around at the group in front of her; Scout, Zoe, Rhiannon, Imogen, Connor, Dynasty and Kevin. She bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

"We'll come and visit, right?" Scout announced, finally breaking the silence.

"Course." Hollie nodded. "All of you."

"As if you'd get away with us not coming." Rhiannon almost rolled her eyes.

Nodding, Hollie hugged each of them in turn, before they retreated a little and it was just the girl and her boyfriend. She smiled weakly at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. Kevin put one hand on her waist and tangled the other in her hair, kissing her temple.

"I'll see you really soon, OK?" He promised. "I'm going to stay with Chalky for the summer, so I won't be far away. You can come and stay with us and I'll come to yours."

"Will we be OK?"

"Course we will." He told her with a grin. "We've dealt with more than being at opposite ends of the country. It's just one year, Hollie, then we can be together properly."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He agreed, kissing her softly. "As long as you promise to keep yourself out of trouble?"

Hollie laughed. "I'll do my best."

"Hol?" The teenager glanced over her shoulder as Nikki shot her an apologetic look and pointed at her watch, indicating that they needed to leave.

"I have to go." She sighed, kissing Kevin. "I love you."

"I love you too."

With a deep sigh, the girl beamed and squeezed her boyfriend's hand, before walking round to climb into the passenger's seat. Nikki put a hand on her thigh and squeezed it, sending her a small smile, before starting the engine and slowly pulling out into the road.

They hadn't even made it out of the car park before someone standing directly in their path caused Nikki to slam on the breaks, both women in the car staring wide-eyed at the individual holding their hands up and preventing them leaving.

Glancing at her daughter, Nikki reluctantly wound down her window as the figure approached, wondering what they could possibly have to say. Everything that had needed to be said had been and, as much as it pained her, the woman hadn't expected to see that face again so soon. She didn't want to fight anymore.

"I… I couldn't let you go. I know that we… you… but…" Her former lover said, leaning down to look through the window. One hand gently caressed Nikki's cheek as a small smile twisted their lips. "I want to come with you, if you'll have me?"

Glancing sideways at her daughter, who shrugged and grinned, the brunette turned back to the window and smiled at the face staring hopefully back at her. She nodded. "Did you need to ask?"

Leaning her head back against the head rest, Hollie let out a deep breath as the couple began discussing the logistics of the change in their plans. Things didn't always turn out the way they were expected to but, in the end, they managed to sort themselves out. Glancing sideways as she eyed the couple carefully, her smile broadened. This time last year her life had been totally different and now… now it was so, so much better than she had ever imagined.

She had a family.

* * *

_**A/N: OK, so I chickened out of making a decision over whether this was going to end up Tokki or Lorikki. I was really tempted to stick to Tom/Nikki, because that's how it originally started, but then Nikki/Lorraine are so cute! Anyway this way is better, right? You get to decide for yourselves and it could go either way!**_

_**Anyway, this is the end! My original last chapter vanished off the face of the earth when my laptop died and I had to re-write it. I'm not SOhappy with this version, but I've played around with it so many times I've given up! I really hope it's not too much of a let-down!**_

_**Thank you all for all of your support and sticking with this for so long! You're all absolutely fantastic! :D**_

**_As for those who asked about a sequel... not at the moment. I'm not promising that there will be one at any point, but right now I kinda just wanted to give it a definite ending - what's more definite than them leaving Waterloo Road completely? Never say never, though!_**

_**x**_


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